ST. GEORGE —- An 18-year-old man is dead after he was shot in a church gym during an argument in a basketball game. East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the shooting that happened last week.
It was around 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 22 when deputies responded to the Grace Life Fellowship Church on Baringer Foreman, off of Airline Hwy., for a shooting.
Preliminary information reveals there was a verbal argument during a rec basketball game inside the gym between two non-church members, which escalated to a shooting. A young man, identified as 18-year-old Christopher Joe, took a bullet to the head.
EBRSO detectives spoke to multiple witnesses in their investigation, including those who were there before and during the shooting. The witnesses told detectives that both men were playing basketball and during the game, the two had “exchanged words,” per the arrest warrant.
According to an arrest warrant, there was no physical fight between Joe and the accused shooter, Lee Andrew Johnson, 51. Witnesses told detectives that the conversations had been about the game and were not “threats of violence,” the document states.
Afterward, Joe turned away from Johnson and started gathering his belongings. That’s when Johnson allegedly pulled out a gun, pointed it to the back of Joe’s head and fired, per the warrant.
Joe was transported to a hospital in critical condition. He later died of his injuries, the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office confirmed.
With the help of Livingston Parish Sheriff’s deputies, the accused suspect, Lee Andrew Johnson, 51, was arrested. He has since been transported to the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, where he is charged with one count of second-degree murder.
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