By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – For LaPlace resident Rodney Mason, 18, April Fool’s Day quickly lost its usual playful nature when Timothy Gauff shot him in the leg with one of several bullets he unloaded from a .45 caliber pistol.

On Thursday the St. John Sheriff’s Office tracked down Gauff, 38, who fled the scene and left Mason in a crumpled heap on the ground, and arrested him for aggravated battery and illegal use of a weapon.

At approximately 6 p.m. a witness heard the two men exchanging words in front of 378 Historic East St., before Gauff reportedly unloaded his high-powered handgun towards Mason, with one of several shots ripping through his lower left leg.

As Mason collapsed to the ground, Gauff fled to his red car and sped off towards the river, before an ambulanced arrived, treated Gauff and transported him to River Parishes Hospital.

Investigators found five shell casings from a .45 caliber pistol and two additional unspecified projectiles at two different sites near 378 Historic East St.