Police: Teen shot woman waiting to pick up kids from school
HOUMA, La. (AP) — Police are looking for a teen they say shot and wounded a woman waiting to pick up her grandchildren outside a school Friday.
Houma police issued warrants to arrest 17-year-old Jamanie Dotch on charges of attempted-first-degree murder and possession of a firearm in a school zone.
Police said Dotch escaped from from the Bridge City Center for Youth in Shreveport on June 16.
The woman was shot Friday while waiting in a car to pick up her grandchildren from St. Francis de Sales Elementary in Houma, police said. The victim was taken to a local hospital.
Video shows the teen riding a bike in the area. WWL-TV reported the teenager tried to steal the woman's purse, then shot her in the stomach. Police say video then shows Dotch running back to the bike with a gun and fleeing.
The Courier of Houma reports Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Bishop Shelton Fabre wrote a letter to parents Friday saying no students were outside or saw the incident. He said it happened “quite a distance from the school campus.”
Police locked down the school and declared the area safe before classes ended. Fabre said the school and the Catholic diocese are assisting police in the investigation.