Police: Man shot Thursday night in Patterson

A man was injured Thursday night after being shot three times in the area of Hickory and Taft streets in Patterson, Police Chief Patrick LaSalle said in a news release.

Police say shootings have been a common occurrence in Patterson this summer, and two victims have now been confirmed to have sustained injuries in the shootings. But no is talking, and police are seeking the public’s help to solve the shootings, LaSalle said.

Patterson police received a call at 10:33 p.m. Thursday about multiple shots coming from the area of Taft, Hickory and Cherry streets along with Mill Road. The actual shooting place on Hickory and Taft streets where one male victim was shot, LaSalle said.

The victim, Dearius Kenner, collapsed on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the release said. He was struck three times and transported to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge via Acadian Air Med Lift.

Police confirmed late Friday morning that Kenner had been released from the hospital.

Police have two possible suspects in the case but haven’t released any names. During the investigation, one round was located in a home. The investigation is ongoing.

There have been continual reports of shootings on a weekly basis, but police still have received “no assistance from the public or the victims,” LaSalle said in the release.

Investigators are offering a reward for an arrest and conviction in the case.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Patterson Police Department at 985-395-6161.

At the Aug. 1 city council meeting, LaSalle said there had been over two dozen shootings in Patterson within the past month. No one had come forward “to communicate with the police department” about the alleged shootings, LaSalle said during the meeting.

One person was confirmed to have been injured during a late-June shooting on Murphy Street. The victim is believed to have run from there to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue where authorities located him, LaSalle said.

Tyrique Jones, 19, is wanted on a warrant charging him with aggravated second-degree battery requiring medical attention in connection with the late-June shooting. Jones had previously been arrested on an attempted second-degree murder charge stemming from an October 2016 drive-by shooting in the area of Taft and Hickory streets.