Shreveport mayor outlines 3 efforts to reduce homicides

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — A teenager is accused of fatally shooting another teen over the weekend.

For Shreveport, Tyniece Haley’s death marks the 16th homicide of the year.

The 18-year-old died after being shot outside a skating rink.

Her death comes as city leaders say they are working on new plans to address the violence.

[RELATED: Teen arrested in death of another teen outside skating rink]

“If we can find out who these people are and get them off the streets before they have a chance to commit a homicide, that would be very important,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux said.

Without getting into specifics, the mayor said a big part of the city’s plans is getting illegal guns off the street. “Virtually every homicide that’s been committed has been committed with an illegally possessed weapon.”

Shreveport recorded 52 homicides in 2022. Now with 16 homicides less than three months into the new year, Shreveport is on pace to have another deadly year.

In addition to confiscating illegal guns, the city administration plans to also work with the Shreveport Police Department on new initiatives to investigate crimes thoroughly through the real-time crime center and to have an increased police visibility in high-crime areas.

“We hope that what we will be doing will reduce the number of homicides,” Arceneaux said.

Shreveport had 86 homicides in 1993 and another 86 in 2021, making them two of the worst years on record for homicides in the city, according to the Shreveport Police Department. Last year, the city recorded 52. Now with 16 homicides less than three months into the new year, Shreveport is on pace to have another deadly year.

While some find the rate of recent homicides to be alarming, the mayor said “any homicide is alarming to me because it’s someone’s child, someone’s parent, someone’s brother, sister, someone’s friend.”

He claimed many of the recent homicides are connected. “We think that many of those are related; there’s a very serious investigation going on as to who the people might be.”

Shreveport Police Department released a statement about the recent homicides, saying, in part:

“In terms of recent homicides we’ve experienced, our investigators are working diligently to solve them. Each homicide is viewed on an individual basis.”

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