Louisiana
As Louisiana schools seek to prevent shootings, some make do with limited resources
The fatal school shooting in Georgia this week was a tragic reminder of the ever-present threat of violence that hangs over American schools. Not that anyone needs reminding.
In Louisiana, many schools have been reviewing safety plans and running lockdown drills since the new school year began. In Caddo Parish last week, schools were practicing how to respond to an active shooter when a student sitting by the door in Ashley Samuel’s fifth-grade classroom observed flatly that he would likely be the first person shot.
“I was like, ‘No, we’re going to make sure that you’re safe,’” Samuel said. But the boy’s casual remark was jarring: “That was just a normal conversation for him.”
While deadly school shootings have become more common, they remain statistically rare. Yet even the remote possibility that gunfire could erupt inside any school looms large in the minds of many parents and educators — especially after tragedies like the one this week.
On Wednesday, a 14-year-old student opened fire at his high school in Winder, Ga., killing two students and two teachers and injuring nine others. Early reports suggest that safety measures at Apalachee High School, including an emergency-alert system and quick-acting school resource officers, helped prevent further carnage.
In Louisiana, where the Republican-controlled legislature has expanded gun rights and rejected restrictions, lawmakers and state officials have focused on enhancing school security. Last year, the Legislature passed a law requiring schools to conduct active-shooter drills within 30 days of classes starting and to adopt “panic button”-type alert systems. Also last year, the state Department of Education awarded more than $20 million in federal aid to help schools upgrade their security systems.
Yet the level of preparedness varies by school and district, according to a recent audit and interviews with district leaders. Funding is a major challenge for some school systems, especially in rural areas where limited tax revenue forces schools to rely on competitive grants for security upgrades.
One consequence of the funding challenges: About a third of schools lack a full-time school resource officer, according to a Nov. 2022 survey cited in the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report.
But even the best safety measures cannot fully eliminate the risk of violence. Jarod Martin, superintendent of Lafourche Parish schools, said his district has invested heavily in weapons-detection systems, fencing and school resource officers.
Still, “it never provides foolproof protection,” he said. “The best you can do is be a difficult target.”
Schools search for ways to fund security
Officials in St. Helena Parish know better than most why schools need protection.
Last September, one student was killed and two others were injured after a 14-year-old shot them in a high school parking lot after classes ended. Weeks later, the district proposed a tax increase that would generate about $1.7 million, helping to pay for security upgrades and guards. Voters rejected it.
So instead, the district used a $518,000 grant from the state education department to pay for new security equipment, including two metal detectors and some cameras. Another $50,000 grant helped pay for a school resource officer, but the district will have to reapply for the grant annually, said St. Helena schools Superintendent Kelli Joseph.
“We’re here doing what we can with the limited resources that we have,” she said, “to make sure that all of our kids are safe every day.”
Jarod Martin, superintendent of Lafourche Parish schools, said no security measure ever “provides foolproof protection.”
Each district must find its own way to pay for school security, superintendents said. Possible funding sources include local taxes, state and federal grants or the district’s operating budget, though that money is limited.
Lafourche Parish is one of the fortunate school districts where voters approved a local tax to pay for school safety measures. The district has installed fences around every school and recently purchased weapons-detection systems for its middle and high schools, Superintendent Martin said. The tax also helps pay for sheriff’s deputies to work as school resource officers, which costs the district more than $1 million per year, Martin said.
“The costs of this quickly get very high,” he said.
Unlike other nearby states, including Florida and Texas, Louisiana does not require every public school to have a school resource officer, or SRO, according to the Feb. 2024 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
In the 2022 survey by the state education department, about 33% of 1,257 responding public schools said they did not have at least one SRO, according to the report. One reason for the lack of coverage: Schools “that struggle with funding may have no means to fund SRO positions,” the report said.
The auditor also found that many schools lacked emergency plans that met legal requirements. In a review of 49 plans, the auditor found that about half did not address active-shooter scenarios, as required by state law.
In response to the report, the Louisiana Department of Education listed recent steps it’s taken to enhance school security. Those include hosting an annual “School Safety Summit,” awarding $518,000 grants for security upgrades, and encouraging schools to use a free app for students to anonymously report threats.
People play a critical role in school safety
Even in schools with high-tech security systems, many safety measures rely on people.
The East Baton Rouge school district employs metal detectors, cameras and even police dogs to identify threats. Yet it’s the school employees, from office clerks to classroom teachers, who are key to spotting and reporting danger, said Capt. Rodney Walker, who oversees district security.
“To me that’s the biggest defense,” he said, “just having people paying attention to small signs to maybe prevent incidents from happening.”
Research has shown that most school attackers give some advance indication about their plans, whether verbally, in writing or online. However, their peers often don’t report the warning signs.
Cathy Toliver, right, spoke at a rally to end gun violence in Baton Rouge, where her three-year-old grandson was fatally shot.
Louisiana has tried to promote reporting by partnering with Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans, which offers an anonymous reporting hotline and mobile app called Safe Schools Louisiana. Crimestoppers says thousands of tips have been reported through the system, helping to save lives.
About 650 schools have signed up to use the free app and another 75 are preparing to use it, according to Crimestoppers. But that means about 25% of eligible middle and high schools still have not signed up.
Some educators and anti-violence advocates argue that one of the best ways to keep students safe is by promoting mental health. Through counseling and other services, schools can give students the support they need to avoid violence or identify threats.
That is an approach favored by Cathy Toliver, whose three-year-old grandson, Devin Page, Jr., was fatally shot by a stray bullet while sleeping in his crib.
Toliver has become an outspoken activist in the fight against gun violence in Baton Rouge, where her grandson was killed in 2022. In her view, mental health services and support from caring adults are among the best ways to prevent young people from committing violence, both in and out of school.
“I don’t care how many security officers or resource officers they have at the school,” she said. “Until you get one-on-one with an individual and find out what they’re thinking, find out what’s going on, you are going to have these situations happen.”
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Jury selection begins Monday in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest auto insurance fraud cases in Louisiana history, with two local attorneys set to stand trial on charges that include fraud and obstruction of justice.
Attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are accused in an alleged scheme in which drivers — referred to as “slammers” — were paid to intentionally crash into 18-wheelers, file injury lawsuits and allow attorneys to collect the settlements. Both have pleaded not guilty.
63 people have been charged in the case. Many have already pleaded guilty. Motta and Giles are being tried together.
Criminal defense attorney Craig Mordock, who is not directly involved in the case but has been following it closely, said the scope of the litigation is significant.
“You have 10 years of personal injury cases and almost… almost a billion dollars in recovery. That’s all at issue,” Mordock said. “So yeah, this could go two to three weeks.”
Motta’s defense team has advanced a narrative that she was manipulated by a co-defendant.
“There is a compelling narrative that’s been advanced by Vanessa Motta’s lawyer in terms of her being manipulated by one of the co-defendants… about being manipulated by him and him having a prior federal conviction for fraud,” Mordock said.
Motta’s team originally claimed she did not know the crashes were staged. In 2024, her team told FOX 8 she is the victim.
Mordock said Giles faces a more difficult defense.
“I don’t see a favorable juror for one of the other lawyer defendants, Jason Giles. There’s not a clear theory of innocence. This is basically a standard white-collar prosecution where knowledge and intent are going to be the issue,” Mordock said.
The case carries what Mordock described as a shadow. In September 2020, key witness Cornelious Garrison was killed in New Orleans four days after his name appeared in an indictment. Garrison’s admitted killer, Ryan Harris, is expected to testify.
The judge in the case is also allowing the slain witness’s recorded descriptions of the alleged scheme to be admitted at trial.
Mordock said Louisiana drivers have a direct stake in the outcome.
“As your average Louisianan, the idea would be you would save… because the people committing this fraud have been wrapped up. The insurance companies are going to know how to look for this,” Mordock said.
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