The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Department has made a pair of arrests in connection with a shooting that left a 16-year-old Hahnville student with a gunshot wound to the head.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested John B. Lumar, 18, on May 12 and Joshua D. Taylor, 18, two days later. Both men are charged with attempted murder.
According to Sheriff Greg Champagne, Lumar, a Luling resident, was attending a private party at the old Lions Club building in Hahnville when he and another person exchanged words. Shortly after that confrontation, Lumar pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and fired several rounds into a crowd of people.
Following the chaos, officers on the scene learned that a 16-year-old male, who turned out to be Hahnville freshman Jances Simmons, had been shot in the head. Detectives are still investigating whether Lumar was responsible for the shooting.
Taylor, a St. Rose resident, was also arrested in connection with the shooting.
The incident occurred on May 10, when a group of people got into an argument during a party at the old Lions Club building. Chaz James, who was the M.C. for the event, told deputies that the trouble first started inside the building and the people that caused the trouble were told to leave. James then said he heard a gunshot and the crowd that had left began to force themselves back into the building.
After that, the lights came on and everyone was told to leave the building. James said that as he made his way outside, he observed a passenger from a 4-door town car parked next to the entrance shooting a gun towards the sky.
The partygoers then tried to return to the building, but were told to leave once again.
According to sheriff’s office reports, James said that once the building was nearly empty, he heard multiple shots from the west side of the building.
“There was a large amount of bullet casings that were located on the ground where the shooting occurred,” Champagne said. “It’s amazing that there weren’t more victims as a result of this.”
Simmons, who was sitting in a car at the time of the shooting, was shot on the left side of the head just above the ear by one of the stray bullets. Dr. Giuffre told officers that x-rays showed that the bullet did not enter the brain, but traveled along the skull to the left side of the victim’s forehead.
Champagne said that the case is still under investigation and he believes that additional arrests may be forthcoming.
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