New Iberia police say a 12-year-old boy is dead and his older brother is injured after a shooting in the 500 block of Johnston St. Sunday evening.
Residents that live nearby say the shooting happened in front of two vacant white houses.
“It’s hard because I be sitting out here saying the rosary with my friend, and just like they shot that little boy, we could have gotten shot,” one woman, who chose to remain anonymous for her safety, said.
She says she was watching tv when she heard gunshots outside just after seven p.m. Sunday.
“I heard gunshots. I thought it was like 2 gunshots, but I think it was like four. So that’s when I came outside, and I walked down the street to the corner. And I seen the little boy lying down on the sidewalk, and everybody was telling him not to move,” she recalled.
She says she recognized the boy lying on the sidewalk. He and his older teenager brother often ride around the neighborhood on their bikes, but that’s not the image she saw Sunday.
“It was just a shock, you know, sad. Very, very, very horrible to see a little child like that lying down with I don’t know how many gunshots he had,” she said.
She added that his brother was running between the houses trying to get away when he was shot, but officials say he is recovering from his injuries.
“I wish they could stop all that shooting, and they could find the one who did it because that’s sad. That’s sad,” she said.