Allison Rice, Geismar, Louisiana resident and LSU senior found shot dead in her car in downtown Baton Rouge in notorious violent area. No arrests or known motive.
A Louisiana State University student was found shot dead inside of her car in downtown Baton Rouge in a seemingly random act of violence, early Friday morning.
Allison Rice, 21, a LSU senior was identified as the victim in the shooting near a set of railroad tracks on Government Street, WAFB-TV reported. Police said someone fired at least five or six shots into Rice’s car.
Prior to the shooting, investigators said Rice was out with her friends in the Mid City area of Baton Rouge.
She was stopped at a railroad crossing around 2:20 a.m. and tried to make a U-turn when the bullets started flying, witnesses told 4WWL.
A Government Street resident said the gunshots were muffled by the passing trains, but he was still awoken by the violent sound around 2.15am. ‘The train, it sort of muffled out the shots, but you knew they were gunshots,’ the resident told The Advocate.
‘People get killed around here every month’
‘This senseless violence is completely unacceptable and Baton Rouge Police officers are thoroughly investigating to bring the perpetrator to justice,’ Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a statement.
Of note no signs of any item belonging to the victim was found stolen. As of Saturday morning, police have not identified a suspect or a motive.
Neighbor, Floyd Normand told WWLTV that that area has a ‘lot of problems.’
‘You’ve got people doing things they should not be doing, stuff like that. I’m trying to stay focused, stay out of that life, and be in my house. When night falls, I try to be in my house,’ he told the outlet.
Remarked local businessman, Russ Turner via The Advocate, ‘People get killed around here every month, it seems’.
Rice, a native of Geismar, La, was a marketing major at LSU. The university issued the following statement on Friday:
‘The LSU community is saddened to hear of senior Allison Rice being killed overnight. Her family and friends are in our thoughts, and we encourage anyone who may have more information about this crime to contact Baton Rouge Police.’
‘The loss of a child, you can never get over that,’
Rice recently left a bartending job at The Shed BBQ in Baton Rouge, where her siblings also worked, to take on a new internship, the restaurant’s owner told The Advocate.
Chez Ciccone, Rice’s former boss recalled telling the bartender that she was always welcome to come back and that, ‘We are so proud of the direction you are taking. You’ve got your entire life ahead of you.’
Rice’s aunt and godmother, Susie Rice Granier, told The Advocate that her niece was a ‘free spirit’ who loved to dance and sing.
‘The loss of a child, you can never get over that,’ she said. ‘The holidays are coming up. It’s going to be sad. It’s going to be really sad.’
