By LEONARD GRAY

Managing Editor

LAPLACE – A suspect is still being sought in a shooting near Club Fusion on Airline Highway in LaPlace, which occurred early Sunday morning. Detectives with the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office identified Jevon Johnson, 20, of LaPlace, based on witness accounts at the crime scene.

Maj. Michael Tregre reported that the sheriff’s office was notified of a shooting at the

(See Arrest, Page 3A)

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night spot at about 12:28 a.m. Sunday.

Tregre said officials are trying to persuade him to turn himself in to authorities.

The shooting victim, Ronald Ellis, 32, of LaPlace, was transported to River Parishes Hospital, by the time officers arrived.

Witnesses at the scene identified Johnson, and a warrant was issued, charging him with attempted second-degree murder.

Tregre added that according to these witnesses, bad blood had developed earlier between Johnson and Ellis.

Ellis’s 24-year-old stepdaughter was allegedly the target of Johnson in an attempted shooting a week earlier, according to Tregre, but she was not injured.

However, when the woman confronted Johnson inside Club Fusion, Ellis intervened and an argument developed into a fight. Club management threw out the pair, but the fight ended when Johnson pulled a gun and fired upon Ellis.

The bullet passed through Ellis’s abdomen, causing entrance and exit wounds.

He remains under care at River Parishes Hospital’s intensive care unit in stable condition.