BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A man has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot and killed another man in a Baton Rouge apartment with three children present, officials said.
Officers were called to the apartment complex on the eastern side of the city around 9 p.m. on Saturday and found a man dead in a bedroom, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office. They also found three children in the bedroom, The Advocate reported.
Police escorted the children out of the apartment through a back door. They were not harmed, local news reports said.
One of the children told investigators that the victim and the suspect, 46-year-old Erron Joseph, exchanged gunfire in the doorway of Joseph's apartment. The victim then ran to his own apartment and Joseph allegedly retrieved a rifle from his car.
According to The Advocate, the victim asked Joseph not to shoot him in front of the children before Joseph allegedly killed him.
Investigators found physical evidence that suggests Joseph fired eight bullets at the victims, the sheriff's office said. Detectives retrieved numerous rifle casings from the apartment but there was no evidence that the victims fired his gun inside.
Joseph was booked on charges including one count of first degree murder.
It was not immediately known if Joseph had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.