By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the shooting and armed robbery of a LaPlace man earlier this month.

Alvin T. Zeringue III, of 2 Lincoln Court, LaPlace, was arrested at his home without incident Wednesday, said Capt. Dane Clement, a spokesman for the St. John Sheriff’s Office. Zeringue was charged with principal to attempted first-degree murder, principal to armed robbery and conspiracy to armed robbery in connection with the Feb. 3 robbery and shooting on Sherwood Drive in LaPlace.

According to a release regarding the shooting, deputies were called to the intersection of Mt. Vernon Drive and Sherwood Drive at about 12:25 a.m. Feb. 3. There they found a 20-year-old LaPlace man bent over on the walkway.

The unidentified man told deputies that he was visiting a friend in the 3000 block of Sherwood Drive when six or seven other men entered the home and one started shooting.

According to investigators, the victim fled the house and knocked on several doors in the neighborhood seeking assistance. Clement said several of those residents alerted police to the shooting.

Clement said during the course of the shooting investigation investigators determined a robbery had taken place at the Sherwood Drive residence in addition to the shooting, but he would not say what was stolen.

He also said Zeringue was identified as one of the suspects involved but wouldn’t elaborate further. Zeringue is being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on a $200,000 bond.

Clement said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected. Anyone with information regarding the incident should call St. John Parish detectives at 985-359-8769.