Multiple agencies team up to arrest Opelousas shooting suspect
Detectives with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office have arrested Dequavious Johnson of Opelousas after an investigation involving several agencies tied him to multiple drive by shootings.
It began on June 23, when the Opelousas Police Department responded to a shooting complaint where a victim was shot and transported to a local hospital for injuries.
On June 25, just after 1:00 am, the sheriff’s office responded to the community of Morrow for a drive by shooting where two trailer homes had been shot with 5 people inside.
Deputies located twenty-five rifle casings and four .40 cal casings.
While on scene, the Bunkie Police Department was also investigating a drive by shooting in their city. Investigators believed that the two shootings were related due to key evidence at both crime scenes.
Later that evening while detectives were still investigating the Morrow shooting, another drive by shooting complaint was made in Opelousas where nine more rifle casings, three 9mm caliber casings, and eighteen .40 caliber casings were found.
St. Landry detectives along with agents with the Bunkie Police Department, Opelousas Police Department, and the ATF met at the St. Landry Parish Public Safety Complex in order to discuss similarities in the shootings. The agents were able to place Dequavious Johnson at the shootings and identified him as one of the main suspect.
It was also learned that Johnson owned a firearm that fired a particular kind of ammo found at all three shootings. Through combined investigation techniques, key physical evidence recovered at the scene, and forensic analysis, a warrant was obtained for Johnson.
At the time of his arrest, police say he was in found to be in possession of multiple magazines and ammunition that were used in all of the shootings.
Johnson was arrested and processed in the parish jail on July 12, 2019.
The investigation revealed that the shootings that took place in Bunkie and Morrow were a result of the shooting that occurred on June 23, 2019 in Opelousas where Johnson’s cousin was shot.