SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A cheerleader at Huntington High School was struck by gunfire during a rolling shootout last Saturday, and her mother wants to know what can be done to bring an end to gun violence in Shreveport.
The shooting happened after the school’s homecoming dance. Several students were hanging out in the parking lot outside Otto’s gas station on Lakeshore Drive. Others were at a nearby after-party.
The student’s mother received the call after midnight and fears things will never be the same for her daughter.
“I was made aware that there was a shooting going on and that my child had been hit,” she says.
The 17-year-old senior suffered a gunshot wound and was transported to the hospital for her injuries. Her mother says there was an entrance and exit wound in her calf.
The mother of three says Saturday’s incident was disturbing. A video of the shooting later surfaced on social media, adding to her worries.
“There had to be a target in mind. They weren’t just shooting in the air or anything like that. There were a target in mind, so what led up to this?”
A bystander, who wants to remain anonymous, says the same group of kids were at Soul and Love Café and Lounge when he noticed a fight break out.
“At about 12:30, everyone seen to run out of the event center into the parking lot where several fights broke out. When that fight broke up, the group that was involved in the fight ran towards Otto’s.”
Saturday’s shooting remains under investigation by the Shreveport Police Department. They say a 20-year-old person was also struck by gunfire and survived.
“Whatever beef amongst each other, it has to stop. It is to the point now where the normal things of life, they’re not even able to do,” says the Huntington student’s mother.
She has several questions that can’t seem to put her mind at ease.
“What is graduation going to look like? What is prom going to look like?”
Or cheerleading?”
