La. slayings could be racially motivated
Police investigating the fatal and apparently random shootings of two black pedestrians in Baton Rouge, La., last week said Sunday that they have a man in custody and believe the killings could have been racially motivated.
Police arrested Kenneth Gleason, 23, on unrelated drug charges after he was brought in for questioning in connection with the shootings, Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. L’Jean McKneely Jr. said.
Gleason’s car fit the description of one police had been looking
for — but there was not enough evidence yet to charge Gleason with murder, McKneely told the Associated Press. He remains a person of interest, the police spokesman added.
“There is a strong possibility that it could be racially motivated,” McKneely told the AP.
The first shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, at an intersection near the Baton
Rouge General Medical Center, just east of downtown. Police said they arrived at the scene to find Bruce Cofield, a 59-year-old homeless man, lying on the road with multiple gunshot wounds. He died at the scene, police said.
The second shooting occurred around 11 p.m. Thursday near the Louisiana State University campus, a few miles southwest of where Cofield was killed. This time, as well, police found 49-year-old Donald Smart lying on the road with multiple gunshot wounds. He, too, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.