BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A man and his 5-year-old nephew were killed in what Baton Rouge police say was a targeted shooting near LSU's campus last week.
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. Friday when a vehicle pulled up alongside the victim's car on the highway and opened fire, WBRZ-TV reported, citing Baton Rouge police.
Michael Riley, 22, was pronounced dead at the scene and a 5-year-old boy was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. He was identified Saturday as Michael Riley's nephew Carson Riley.
Both of the victims were in the back seat of the car, according to WBRZ-TV. In a news conference Monday, police said the shooting appeared to be a targeted attack.
According to The Advocate, eight people were in the victims' car, including four children ages 6, 3, 1 and the 5-year-old who was killed. The shooting brought the number of homicides in East Baton Rouge to a record 141, The Advocate reported.
This shooting also marked the second time in two weeks that victims were fired upon in a car by another driver. A 32-year-old man was killed and another person wounded in an apparent targeted shooting that shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Prairieville for several hours on Dec. 3.
“I get a call every time there is a homicide in this city,” Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul told The Advocate. “When the victim is a baby, it hits a little different. Someone out there knows what led to this baby’s death, and they need to do the right thing and come forward.”
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