Two men have died after a double shooting outside of Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (BTR).
The incident occurred late Thursday night near the exit of the a airport near the intersection of Sally Ride Avenue and Veterans Memorial Boulevard in the Louisiana state capital. According to WBRZ News 2, the shooting occurred after a verbal argument.
Law enforcement quickly responded to the scene which is no surprise as the airport is located directly across the street from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. The stretch of Sally Ride Avenue between the terminal and Veterans Memorial Boulevard has been blocked off while the investigation is underway.
Multiple flights had just arrived at the airport at the time of the incident including American Eagle flights from Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) and Washington-Reagan (DCA), a Delta Connection flight from Atlanta (ATL) and a United Express flight from Houston-Intercontinental (IAH).
The airport has confirmed that it is not under a lockdown and traffic is being diverted away from the area.
Local Baton Rouge investigative journalist Kiran Chawla is reporting that the incident is being investigated as a murder suicide. The incident involved at least one employee from an on-premise rental car company. The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office identified the two individuals killed in the shooting as 46 year old Almutakabbir Sims and 40 year old Dominic York.
The airport is famously the scene of where Gary Plauché shot and killed Jeffrey Doucet, a child molester who had kidnapped and raped Plauché’s son, on live TV as he was being escorted through the airport by law enforcement in 1984.
Summary
A shooting occurred Thursday night outside of Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (BTR). While the incident likely did not involve any passengers at the airport, multiple flights had arrived just prior to the incident. The airport is continuing to operate as normal though vehicles are being forced to take an alternate route when leaving the terminal.
