Triple shooting stuns Church Point residents; fight over tires blamed

• By JASON BROWN
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Apr 29, 2009 - Page: 1BA

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Acadia Parish authorities arrested a Church Point man after he allegedly shot and killed a man and wounded two others during a shooting at a birthday party, an official said Tuesday.

Church Point Police Chief Albert Venable said authorities arrested Jonathan Citizen, 29, after he allegedly shot and killed Paul Reginald Landry, 43, and wounded two others in what appears to be a dispute over a set of tires.

“It’s really shocked everyone,” Venable said.

This is the first homicide the small town has seen in a number of years.

It has also left a community mourning a man who was simply trying to protect those in harm’s way, Venable said.

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Saturday at a residence on Martin Luther King Drive.

Authorities said Citizen arrived at the party and struck a guest in the face before leaving the scene.

He returned about three hours later and allegedly began firing a .22-caliber rifle in the direction of a crowd gathered in the front yard.

One person, whose name was not released, was wounded in the leg and above his right eye.

He was hospitalized and later released.

Authorities were alerted but Citizen avoided detection for about three hours, Venable said.

Citizen went to the home for a third time about 2:30 a.m. and approached it from a wooded area on the side of the home and began firing the rifle again, Venable said.

Another unidentified man was wounded in the leg and shoulder. He too was treated and released.