One dead following shooting in downtown Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - The Alexandria Police Department responded to a deadly shooting in downtown Alexandria on Sunday, April 30, that occurred at 201 Johnston Street.

Officers with APD, the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police responded to the area around 8:52 p.m.

APD Interim Chief Chad Gremillion shared with KALB that “a party held on a private rooftop spilled over into downtown,” leading to the shooting.

The deceased victim has been identified as Elliot B. Dauzart, 23, of Alexandria.

At least one bullet connected to the shooting hit Alexandria City Hall. On Monday morning, a window on the top level of the building could be seen boarded up. That is the area of the building where Mayor Jacques Roy’s administration works.

On Monday, May 1, Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy released video messages featuring him and Chief Gremillion. The messages only confirmed the details we were previously aware of and stated above. They stressed that no officers were involved in the shooting and that it was an isolated incident.

“Let me stress the word isolated. There are no specific details that show this event involving a shooting in downtown Alexandria was specifically targeted to this area,” Chief Gremillion said.

“Youthful crime and illegal guns are out of control in places,” Mayor Roy said. “These things are happening as a result of people right now beefing on social media, and it’s spilling over into violence to this level where there is loss of life.”

Alexandria’s largest downtown event, AlexRiverFete, is set to begin downtown in a few days. Residents on social media have voiced their concerns about safety for the event. Mayor Roy has stressed that citizens should not worry.

“While I can’t tell anybody that there is never a chance of issues when you attend events, I can tell you that at AlexRiverFete, the amount of security and public safety in place will be tremendous. This will be a safe event. We will have the people, the intelligence, and our team in place to make sure that you see and feel safe.”

No details were released on the victim’s indentity or if law enforcement has made any arrests. As this was not a press conference, we were not able to ask any questions.

If anyone has any information about this incident or any other type of crime in the Alexandria area, please contact the Alexandria Police Detective Division at (318) 441-6416, or APD Dispatch at (318) 441-6559.

For a cash reward, call Crime Stoppers of Cenla at (318) 443-7867. The Crime Stoppers P3 Tipster App can also be downloaded to leave tips and get a claim number for a cash reward. Crime Stoppers is a private non-profit organization, not a law enforcement agency.

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