According to Abbeville Police Chief, Mike Hardy, Sunday night shooting led to two Black men supposedly in their late 20s getting injured.

The chief said officers responded to the corner of Dutel and Franks Alley to find out that a white Cadillac SUV was heading south on Dutel until they got to the intersection of Franks Alley. Then three people exited the vehicle and began shooting at two guys who were parked in their car. 

“They shot numerous rounds totaling over 40 rounds that struck the vehicles and hit the victims,” Hardy said. “The three subjects that exited the vehicle got back in the vehicle and drove off but you can see one of the victims, drove out, lost control of this vehicle, hit a tree, and ran away and I guess he got to the hospital and the second victim drove off the lot and drove himself to the hospital. The second one that drove off had the most severe injuries. I believe he had to have surgery, but as far as we know, they’re both with non-life threatening injuries.” 

Hardy said the victims say they don’t know why the people shot at them, and they didn’t recognize them. Nor do they know who the vehicle belonged to. Police working with the cameras and witness statements from the scene. 

“The cameras are very important. Our cameras we have around Abbeville, we probably have 150 cameras around Abbeville, but different locations.” Hardy said. “It just looks like most of these cameras are put in good locations because we’re getting a lot of information from them. Almost every time we have a shooting or illegal discharge the people that do this accidentally do it in front of the camera,” said the chief. “I wish we had more cameras and we’re working toward that. Every year we invest more and more into the cameras. We plan on putting more cameras. We’re working with other organizations and with the sheriff’s office to put more cameras out there.”

The police are asking the public for assistance in looking for the white Cadillac SUV. 

“We’re hoping someone will recognize it. It did have a switch plate on it. So we don’t know exactly who the owner is, but we should be able to find it with the real time crime center cameras that we have around the town. We’re asking for the public to notify us if they hear anything,” said the chief. 

He said the subjects are looking at two counts of attempted first degree murder among other charges. 

Abbeville Councilwoman Terry Broussard, District D, released the statement about how incidents like these impact the community.

“Like many communities across the country, our city is grappling with a troubling pattern: a small number of repeat offenders continue to commit crimes.” Broussard said. “In response, the mayor, with the full support of the city council, has pledged to deploy every available resource to put an end to these crimes. The mayor and city council have asked the Chief of Police to work closely with other law enforcement agencies to proactively identify and apprehend those responsible, and to work with the District Attorney’s office to ensure these individuals are held accountable and do not return to the streets. Councilwoman Broussard emphasized that the Chief of Police is an elected official and oversees all matters related to public safety, and the city’s role is to support his efforts. We cannot comment on open investigations.”

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