A 11-year-old girl from Louisiana and her uncle were shot and killed on Friday night while blowing up balloons for a toddler’s birthday party. The shooting was called “targeted.”
Ron Tate, Samiya’s 11-year-old uncle, and her were blowing up balloons at a house in the 1300 block of North Sugar Ridge Drive in LaPlace, Louisiana, which is about 29 miles west of New Orleans, at 11:48 p.m. when someone started shooting into the house.
Soon after, reports of gunfire came in, and the cops found three people “suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.”
The uncle and niece eventually died from their injuries and were declared dead at a nearby hospital. A third person, a woman, was shot and was being treated for her wounds. Up to a dozen shots were said to have hit the house.
The person who was hurt has not been named by the police. The three people were reportedly blowing up balloons for a 3-year-old’s birthday party when the shooting started.
According to Tregre, “at this time, we believe this was a targeted, planned attack,” but he did not give any more information. There were apparently other people in the house at the time, but it was not clear how many or what their connections were to Tate and Mcclain at first.
Tate owned the house, and Mcclain had been going there to see him. It was claimed that some of the neighbors’ cars were also damaged in the shooting. One neighbor told the news source that she hid in her house away from the windows while the shooting happened and only came out when she saw the police outside.
Police are looking for suspects. If you know anything, please call Det. Sgt. Vince Smith at the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office at 504-494-3696 or 985-359-8763.
Tips can also be called in at 985-359-8477 and will be taken seriously by the whole office. You can also call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or leave a tip on the website for the sheriff’s office. If someone gives a tip, they can stay private.
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