Louisiana – A Louisiana man was arrested and charged with multiple counts of atempted first-degree murder and one count of iIIegaI use of a weapon in connection with a shooting that left a 2-year-old chiId in criticaI condition in Louisiana. The defendant, 27-year-old L. Rufin, was taken into custody by the Sheriff’s Office during a traffic stop less than 24 hours after the incident, and a judge later denied him bond, ordering him held without bail as the case moves forward in court.
The shooting unfolded just before 3 p.m. last week when the child and her parent were in a vehicle together. Police said the child’s mom believed she spotted a vehicIe she thought had been stoIen from a reIative and began to follow it as it pulled away from near a local establishment. As the woman followed the vehicle, police say the defendant exited the stoIen vehicIe and fired multiple shots toward the woman’s vehicIe. One of the bullets struck the child in the head as the family’s vehicle was struck several times by gunfire.
Emergency medical services were called to the scene, and the 2-year-old was transported to the Children’s Hospital, where she has remained in critical condition. Law enforcement officers have said that the defendant’s charges could be upgraded to murder if the child does not survive her injuries.
Investigators with the local police department’s Fourth District and other units immediately began piecing together the events that led to the shooting. Detectives canvassed the area for surveillance video and gathered witness statements. Officials also used license plate readers to track movements related to the incident. These technological tools, along with accounts from witnesses, helped authorities identify the defendant as the suspect and led to his arrest the following day after a traffic stop.
A woman who was driving the vehicle with her child told police she followed the suspect’s vehicIe because she believed it was the one involved in an earlier theft of a reIative’s vehicIe. Surveillance footage from businesses near the scene showed the vehicle and pursuit of the car before shots were fired. When police later obtained court documents, certain details initially reported by law enforcement, such as the vehicle being stolen, were corrected, indicating that the vehicle the defendant was driving at the time was registered to him.
Witnesses interviewed during the investigation described chaotic scenes in the moments after the shooting. The victim’s mother drove several blocks to a nearby police precinct seeking help for her injured daughter, and surveillance video showed first responders rushing to her aid as smoke rose from the family’s vehicle. Bystanders and neighbors gathered near the police district station as officials worked to stabilize the child and begin their inquiry.
The multi-agency response to the shooting included collecting forensic evidence from the scene and reviewing available video footage. Detectives interviewed other individuals who were near the scene to corroborate the sequence of events that led up to the shooting. License plate reader data linked the suspect’s vehicle to the incident, providing investigators with confirmatory leads that bolstered probable cause for the defendant’s arrest.
After the shooter was taken into custody, court proceedings began with an initial arraignment where his bond was denied by a local judge, who cited public safety concerns. Prosecutors argued that he posed a continued danger to the local community and that holding him without bail was warranted given the severity and violent nature of the charges. He appeared virtually before the court for his bond hearing and was informed of the charges he faces, including six counts of attempted first-degree murder and the illegal use of a weapon stemming from the incident.
