By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John Parish Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a pair of unrelated shooting incidents in LaPlace Tuesday that occurred over a span of about two hours.

Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said a 20-year-old LaPlace man was shot in the knee during one of the incidents, which stemmed from an argument outside a home on Grant Drive Tuesday night.

Clement said the victim showed up at the emergency room at River Parishes Hospital around 8:37 p.m. and told authorities he was arguing with a man he did not know. The victim said at some point during the argument, the unidentified man pulled out a handgun and started shooting. Clement said investigators do not know what sparked the dispute.

According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called out to the 1500 block of Grant Drive around 8:15 p.m. that evening in response to two calls of shots being fired in the area.

The release said one caller reported seeing five or six men running from the area toward Sunnyside Drive. The other caller had seen a two-door blue car leaving the area toward Belle Pointe Drive.

Clement said investigators also interviewed another resident of the block, whose parked car appeared to have a bullet hole in the hood. The man told deputies he did not hear gunshots or see anything at the time of the incident.

Earlier that same evening, a LaPlace man told authorities he was shot at after catching someone peering into his neighbors’ homes in the 1900 block of Tiffany Drive.

Clement said a resident of the block called police at around 6:40 p.m. Tuesday to report an unknown man peeking into windows of homes in the area and ducking behind cars in an effort to hide.

According to a report from police, when deputies arrived the victim said he had shouted at the unknown man, who then ran south on Tiffany Drive. As the unidentified man fled the area, he turned and fired one shot toward the victim.

Clement said no one was injured and nothing was damaged from the gunshot. He said the suspect was wearing dark clothing and a ball cap.

Deputies canvassed the area looking for the suspect but found no one.

Anyone with information regarding either shooting incident should call St. John detectives at 985-652-6338.