Police are searching for a 21-year-old man who they say may have fatally shot five people Saturday morning across two neighboring parishes in Louisiana.
Dakota Theriot, is suspected of killing two people in Ascension Parish and three people in Livingston Parish, which are just east of the state capital, Baton Rouge.
Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said during a press conference that dispatch received a call at about 8:45 a.m. about the two shootings, the victims of which were Theriot’s father, Keith Theriot, 51, and his wife Dakota Theriot, 51.
Webre called the first incident a case of domestic violence and said that Dakota Theriot was recently asked to leave the residence and not return.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had anything of this magnitude when it comes to domestic violence,” Webre said during the press conference. “We don’t know the relationship between the father, the mother and the son at this time.”
Webre said Theriot is driving a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck — gray on top and silver on the bottom — that was reported stolen. He said it is believed that the truck belonged to the victims in Livingston, that Theriot had a connection to them and that he knew them well.
“There’s a lot of family members that are hurting right now and our prayers go out to those family members…they’re looking at us to solve this crime,” Webre said. “The good news is we know who did this.”
Webre added that although Theriot doesn’t seem to be targeting anyone else, he is “an armed and dangerous guy, so anybody who he comes in contact with could be a target.”
Theriot is suspected to be traveling toward Mississippi. He is wanted for two counts of first-degree murder, illegal use of weapons and home invasion in Ascension. Livingston hasn’t yet disclosed any charges.
This is not the first time Theriot has run from police. In 2017, Theriot was asked to exit his vehicle during a traffic stop but instead drove off, throwing suspected marijuana out of the vehicle. When he was arrested, police found marijuana and paraphernalia in his possession, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to call 225-686-2241 x1 or Crime Stoppers at (225)344-STOP (7867).
