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Berwick police responded to a report of gunshots fired at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on California Street near Second Street. No one was hit by the gunfire, police said. Berwick Elementary School was placed on cautionary lockdown for 20 minutes while police investigated the incident. One suspect was arrested for allegedly discharging a firearm. (The Daily Review/Zachary Fitzgerald)

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Wilson Francisco Cruz

(Updated) Police: Suspect arrested for discharging gun near Berwick Elementary

No one hit by gunfire, police say

A 30-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly firing a gun Tuesday afternoon about a block from Berwick Elementary School. No one was hit by the gunfire, and police don’t believe the suspect was trying to shoot anyone.

Wilson Francisco Cruz, 30, of California Street in Berwick, was arrested at 3:38 p.m. Tuesday on charges of discharging a firearm with city limits and resisting an officer by giving false information.

Officers responded to a report of a gunshots fired shortly before at about 2:45 p.m. at a home in the area of California Street and Second Street in Berwick, Police Chief James Richard said.

The report of the shots fired was about a block from Berwick Elementary School, so authorities put the school on cautionary lockdown for 20 minutes, Richard said. Police didn’t want children to be released from school while authorities were investigating the incident, the chief said.

Children were released from school at 3:05 p.m.

Berwick officers had called for assistance from Morgan City police, but quickly secured the scene, Richard said.

A witness positively identified Cruz as the person fired a gun out of a back door of a home on California Street, Richard said.

Police couldn't find the weapon that Cruz allegedly fired. The witness allegedly saw Cruz shoot the gun into the ground or into the air with no one else in the area, Richard said.

Cruz was booked into jail and released on $752 cash bail.

ST. MARY NOW

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