Baton Rouge Police sees increase in youth violent crimes

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Baton Rouge Police said they’re starting to see a rapid increase in violent crimes being committed by kids and teens across the area.

Recently, it’s been constant reports of students bringing guns to school and shootings committed by teenagers.

“This past couple of weeks, you’ve seen a major uptick with the youth committing violent acts,” said Baton Rouge Police Spokesperson L’Jean McKneely.

According to McKneely, they arrested 16 juveniles last year for violent crimes. Only being three months into 2025, we may have already seen the same number.

The most recent shooting that took the life of Anthony Robinson,17, sparked more concern on the route some kids were taking when handling conflict.

Another issue McKneely said has them worried is students continuing to bring guns to school, sometimes loaded. Two Capitol middle school students, a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old sixth grader, were arrested earlier this week for bringing unloaded guns on campus. McKneely said most of the guns these kids find are usually stolen by breaking into cars.

“They’re taking those guns and selling them on the street. Persons are using them to commit violent acts, robberies, shootings and ultimately end with murder,” he said. “Our effort is to try to work with our community partners and resources that are available to the parents because we know these situations start at home.”

Their goal is to have more conversations with parents by making it clear they can stop these crimes before they happen and letting them know they can also be held accountable for what their kids do.

In the state of Louisiana, Senate Bill 3 allows 17-year-olds to be tried as adults for certain crimes. Mckneely said teens sometimes don’t think of the consequences.

“You can lose your whole life behind bars or possibly end up being shot and killed by participating in these types of activities,” he said.

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