Two men, two shootings, more questions - Alexandria Town Talk
On July 22 and 23, two men fired guns in two separate incidents in two separate Lafayette locations. Both men had a history of mental heath issues and had threatened violence in the past. However, the similar circumstances and the timing of the shootings have cast both into a larger conversation about the connection between mental illness and gun violence. It’s a problem when a person who is mentally unstable “can get access to a gun and wreak havoc on our community,” state Rep. Terry Landry said in a news conference July 24, only hours after John R. Houser opened fire in Lafayette’s Grand 16 Theatre. Chuck Schumer, a cousin, announced Monday a new public initiative tackling gun violence. The plan would focus on background checks and mental health funding, rewarding states that submit all necessary records into background-check systems and penalizing states that don’t submit records. On the evening of July 22, Braxton Moody IV, 66, of Lafayette, allegedly fire three shots into the Cadillac Escalade of Dr. J. Lee Leonard III that was parked outside a Lafayette home. In 2003, while he was in a mental hospital, Moody allegedly threatened to hurt or kill Leonard, prompting the hospital to notify Leonard of the threat. Source: www.thetowntalk.com
