HAMMOND, La. — Two people shot and killed a 50-year-old woman instead of the person they were targeting at a Hammond gas station early Thursday morning, Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said.
According to police, the two gunmen followed a gray sedan, believing their target to be inside, to a gas station along U.S. 190 near Westin Oaks Drive around 1:15 a.m.
Security footage obtained by WBRZ shows the gray sedan parked next to a gas pump with a white sedan parked one pump over. When the driver leaves the car and walks inside the gas station, the white sedan pulls around next to the gray car.
Two people wearing masks and wielding AR-style pistols can be seen getting out of the white sedan and opening fire on Patricia Sheppard, 50, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Police said they fired between 70 and 80 bullets into the car before leaving the gas station.
According to Bergeron, the shooters’ vehicle was carjacked in McComb, Mississippi, on Tuesday night.
Though the shooting is still under investigation, police believe the gunmen were targeting someone other than Sheppard. The intended target was in the gray sedan earlier in the night, but left and got into another car without the suspects knowing, Bergeron said.
“For them to roll up and kill an innocent woman in a car because they thought it was somebody else, we do believe there was some motives behind it, but we’re not going to discuss that at this time,” Bergeron said.
Police do not believe the person who drove Sheppard to the gas station to be involved in the shooting.
Bergeron said police are pursuing leads on 2-3 suspects.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Dustin Williams with the Hammond Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 985-277-5755 or williams_dj@hammond.org.
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