Luling man arrested after Wallace shooting

Published 6:39 pm Monday, March 17, 2025

A man from Luling is currently in the St. John the Baptist Parish jail after shooting another man in the ankle during an altercation. 

Walter Roman Celestine, 22, of Luling, was arrested for aggravated second-degree battery, illegal weapon use, and violation of protective orders (felony).

On Wednesday at 6:49 p.m., St. John Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home in the 5300 block of Highway 18 in Wallace about a man being shot. 

Deputies who arrived on the scene found a 19-year-old man sitting on the porch with a gunshot wound to his right ankle. He was accompanied by an 18-year-old woman holding a towel around his ankle.

The suspected shooter was identified as Celestine. While deputies were on scene, Celestine was seen running into a nearby wooded area and refused the officer’s verbal commands to stop.

St. John deputies used an SJSO drone to locate Celestine in the woods. Celestine was arrested without further incident.