ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / February 19, 2000

LAPLACE- A year-long feud between two LaPlace men erupted into gunfire on Thursday evening along West Fifth Street in LaPlace. Two men have beenarrested in the shooting incident and charged with attempted second-degree murder.

There were no injuries, but shots did damage a pickup truck and flying bullets made residents in the usually quiet neighborhood scurry for cover.

“I was some scared,” said Joyce Russell, a resident of Camphor Street, which is less than a block away from the shooting.

Russell was walking home from the grocery store with her cousin when she heard the shots.

“We both dove behind a pile of dirt in a neighbor’s yard,” said Russell.

Deputies were called out to State Street around 6 p.m. in response to a 9-1-1 call about shots being fired in the area.

About 30 minutes later Jeremy King, 19, 1901 Yorktown Dr., LaPlace, wentto the sheriff’s office and reported that Brandon Johnson and Huey Narcisse Jr., 20, 416 Marvin Gardens St., LaPlace, had tried to shoot him.After further investigation both Narcisse and King were arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, carrying a concealed weapon and criminal damage to property.

Capt. Mike Tregre of the sheriff’s office said Narcisse and his friend,Johnson, were turning off West Fifth Street to go to the Park Place subdivision when King blocked their car with his Ford Taurus. They all got outof their cars and shots were fired.

“Apparently, this was a fight that goes back about a year,” said Tregre.

Nobody was struck by any bullets, but both cars sustained damage in the exchange of gunfire.

“There were 15 shots fired in all,” said Tregre. “Narcisse claims he nevershot at King, but King’s car had six bullet holes in it.” Narcisse’s car, also a Ford Taurus, had two bullet holes.

After King reported the shooting, police found a 9mm pistol in his car. Noweapons were found on Narcisse when deputies went to arrest him.

“There must have been close to 10 shots fired,” said Russell. “It was loud,like a high-powered rifle. My daughter heard the shots way over in LaPlacePark.”Another resident, who wished not to be identified, said he found two bullets in his truck. The bullets had shattered his passenger-side window anddamaged his dashboard. The truck was parked in a driveway on CamphorStreet, about 12 houses down from the where the shooting occurred.

Both suspects are in St. John Parish jail under a $256,000 bond set by 40thDistrict Court Judge Mary Hotard Becnel.

“With all the children and innocent bystanders, this could have been a very dangerous situation,” said Tregre.

“We were lucky not to get hit,” said Russell.

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