A shootout between two groups at the Mall of Louisiana on the afternoon of April 23, 2026, left one person dead and five others wounded, prompting authorities to take five people into custody as the state reels from its second mass shooting in less than a week.
Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas “T.J.” Morse Jr. said the violence erupted at 1:22 p.m. inside the food court when a verbal argument between two groups escalated within seconds into gunfire. Surveillance footage captured the confrontation turning deadly, he said.
“Two groups of people got into an argument inside the food court and started shooting at each other,” Morse said. “Unfortunately, there were some innocent people who were in the area that might have also caught some rounds.”
One victim, identified as Donny Guillory, 43, remained in critical condition the evening of April 23, while four others suffered minor injuries. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill confirmed that innocent bystanders were struck by the gunfire. Officials revised an initial estimate of 10 injured down to five wounded.
Three High School Seniors Wounded
Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet announced in a Facebook post that three high school seniors from Ascension Episcopal School, a prekindergarten-through-12 school in Lafayette, were among those struck.
“We are heartbroken by the senseless violence that happened today at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge,” Boulet wrote, asking the community to “join us in holding all of these families close in prayer.”
Rachel Delcambre, a spokesperson for the school, declined to release further information, citing “deep respect for the families and the sensitivity of this situation.” The coroner’s office identified the teen killed as Martha Odom, 17, a student at Ascension Episcopal School in Youngsville.
Chaos and Terror Inside the Shopping Center
The shooting triggered a chaotic scene of screaming shoppers and cowering store clerks, drawing a heavy law enforcement response that included the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to Louisiana’s largest mall.
Alex Theriot, a commercial electrician working on a construction project a few hundred feet from the food court, thought a gunman might be moving store to store. He quickly screwed shut the door of his work site and hunkered down with two other workers.
“Everybody was running and screaming,” Theriot told The Associated Press. “I thought it could have been a terrorist attack.”
Desire Batton, who works at a clothing store, fled with coworkers into a breakroom. “We hid in there until cops came and got us,” she said.
Kennedy Barnum, 22, had walked in to grab lunch when she overheard a woman outside on a cellphone saying, “I’ll call you back. There’s an active shooter in the mall.” Signi Dreyer, a carousel operator at the mall, was among those who scrambled to safety.
The first sign of danger came in the form of sudden, sharp cracks and the sound of glass breaking. By late afternoon, dozens of police cruisers were clustered in the parking lot. Helicopters hovered overhead. Officers in bulletproof vests patrolled the grounds. Mall spokesperson Lindsay Kahn called it a “frightening day” and confirmed the mall would not reopen Thursday.
Targeted Dispute, Not Random Attack
Investigators quickly characterized the bloodshed as a targeted dispute rooted in social media conflicts and possible gang ties rather than an indiscriminate assault on the public. A Baton Rouge Police officer assigned to the mall and a sheriff’s deputy in the parking lot rushed toward the gunfire as it erupted.
“This is still an ongoing investigation, and we’re still looking for more people who may be involved,” Morse said. The following day, 17-year-old Markel Lee turned himself in and was charged with first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, and illegal use of a weapon. A second unidentified suspect remains at large.
Morse described the incident as a “very targeted kind of disagreement” and pledged to track down anyone else connected to the shooting. According to officials briefed on the investigation, there is no known continuing threat to the public.
Second Mass Shooting in Days
The shooting came days after another tragedy in Louisiana. On April 19, in a Shreveport neighborhood, a father fatally shot eight children, seven of his own and one cousin. Two women, including the gunman’s wife, were critically wounded in that incident.
Gov. Jeff Landry, Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards, and Murrill all responded to Thursday’s bloodshed. The quick succession of violent incidents rattled public officials grappling with how to respond.
For shoppers who fled with their hands over their heads, and for the families now waiting on word from hospitals, the afternoon stood as another stark marker in a week Louisiana will not soon forget.