HAMMOND, La. — A 15-year-old juvenile has become the second person to be arrested in connection with a shootout at the Hammond High School graduation ceremony that left three people injured.
Southeastern Louisiana University was holding the ceremony in late May when a shootout broke out between two people.
The juvenile was arrested on Tuesday. He was booked on various counts including illegal possession of a stolen firearm, drug possession with intent to distribute, and other various counts.
Three bystanders were injured although none sustained life-threatening injuries.
Police said that Trent Thomas, 20, and the juvenile got into an altercation during the ceremony that lead to both pulling out firearms.
Thomas, from Hammond, was arrested shortly after the shooting. He was booked with three counts of second-degree attempted murder among other counts.
Police believe the shooting may be related to gang activity.
“Right now, we’re investigating possible gang affiliation of sorts,” said Hammond PD chief Edwin Bergeron after the shooting. “That is a sad scenario when you have people that are bringing guns to high school graduations. I think gangs are a thing. They’re juveniles, a lot of them are involved in (gangs). It’s something that we are actively working in this area.”
Additional ceremonies were held at SLU days later, but with increased police presence.
“Driving back up here, it’s hard to go back through that,” said Penny Lepre, a parent who attended to watch her son's girlfriend receive her diploma. “You see where you were laying at and where you or your loved one could have never made it up. That’s heart wrenching to know it could have been one of us that got shot.”
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WWL-TV Reporter Paul Murphy's previous report was used for this story.