Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Maurice Holmes got a phone call that all of us dread getting. Holmes said that on Monday night, January 4, he received a phone call from a relative informing him that there was a shooting at his mother's home. Holmes was told that a shooting allegedly occurred on N. 21st St., right behind the Mini Mart on DeSiard Street. Holmes' mother was said to be at home asleep when she was awakened by the sound of gunshots in the neighborhood. According to Holmes, bullets from the shooter(s) entered Holmes' mother residence where she was struck by several bullets. Holmes said that as a result of the severity of his mother's wounds, she was airlifted to LSU/Shreveport Hospital for treatment of her wounds. Holmes said that his mother suffered a gunshot wound to her stomach that traveled to her back. She also suffered a gunshot wound to her shoulder.

An investigation is said to be ongoing, according to Holmes, but as of press time he has not received any additional information concerning the shooting from law enforcement authorities. Holmes said that since the shooting, his mother is still recovering from her wounds, though she doesn't say too much about the shooting. Holmes said that he doesn't understand why someone would fire bullets into his mother's home, but he believes that his mother's home was not targeted, that she was a victim of a random shooting. No one else is reported to have been injured in the shooting, nor have there been any arrests reported. Holmes says that he is glad that his mother is alive and hopes that no more shootings like this or the one that happened Christmas day occur in the neighborhood anymore. The Dispatch will update this story as more information becomes available.