HAMMOND — Charges against a 13-year-old boy have now been upgraded to murder after his dad died from being shot in the neck while trying to get his son to school, police say.
The shooting happened at the Tangipahoa Alternative School on Tuesday, April 14th.
Around 7:39 a.m., a Hammond Police school resource officer, who is also a Hammond Police lieutenant, responded to an incident where a 13-year-old male student was refusing to get out of a vehicle and go to school. After speaking with police, the dad, who was with the student, decided to take the teen back to his home.
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As the vehicle began to leave, the school resource officer heard what sounded like a gunshot. After the shot rang out, the vehicle then accelerated and crashed into a home across the street, said Hammond Police Chief Edward Bergeron Jr. No one was in the room where the vehicle crashed, but there were people home at the time of the crash.
That’s when the officer saw the juvenile walking toward the school and approaching him with a gun. The officer disarmed the student and took him into custody, per the police chief. Due to his juvenile status, neither his name or mugshot can be released.
The teen’s father was injured in the neck and transported to North Oaks Medical Center. He died around 2 a.m. on Saturday, April 18th.
The Tangipahoa Alternative School was placed on a complete lockdown out of an abundance of caution. The lockdown has been lifted and the scene is cleared at this time. According to Assistant Superintendent Ron Genko, the school has between 250-260 students.
“It’s absolutely scary how a 13-year-old can come in possession of a firearm,” the chief said.
Chief Bergeron went on to say in the press conference: “It’s a shame that we have kids at this age who have firearms and it’s a bigger shame that kids feel like the way the need to resolve issues is through violence. We have to find a way for education. We have to find a way for something to stop this trend of ‘We need to solve everything by pulling a firearm and handling things.’ It’s unfortunate yet another family is going through a tragic incident because somebody decided to use a firearm to solve a problem.”
The school will have counselors on hand for students and personnel.
“Chief Bergeron is 100% correct in calling his officers ‘heroes,’ but so is our faculty and staff who were there. When the lockdown code went out, in a matter of minutes—less than a minute—every student was in a classroom, the doors were locked to the classroom and to the building. And this is not something that happens without practice,” Genko explained. “As we were growing up, we had fire drills. You have different types of drills and it’s unfortunate now and today that we have these active shooter drills…And I think if today is evidence that if you practice these things, it becomes second nature. Things happen, and unfortunately we have to react to them. Today’s a perfect example of why everyone else was safe.”
“This type of violence is senseless and outrageous and sadly underscores why school resources officers are so important,” said Chief Bergeron. “We are incredibly grateful that we had a SRO at the school to intervene and prevent further injuries.”
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