Four women were stabbed on campus Monday in what Louisiana Tech University says appears to have been a “random act of violence.” Authorities say the victims—one graduate student and three non-students—were attacked after they left the Lambright Sports and Wellness Center around 9am, NBC News reports. In a statement, the university said a student, Jacoby Johnson, was arrested and charged with four counts of attempted second-degree murder. The university in Ruston, northern Louisiana, praised the “efficient actions” of campus police.
Ruston Mayor told reporters that three victims were taken to a hospital in Shreveport. The university said a fourth victim refused treatment. “We have two that we know are in critical but stable condition, one that is in stable condition,” he said, per the AP. Louisiana Tech Police Chief Randal Hermes says the women were attacked as they walked along a sidewalk. “It sounds like he ran up behind them and surprised them,” he tells the Ruston Daily Leader. The center offers fitness classes to students and other Ruston residents. KTBS reports that one victim is 72 years old, two are in their early 60s, and one is 23. (Read more Louisiana stories.)
More fog is predicted for Southeast Louisiana on Wednesday morning after a serious pile-up in foggy conditions on Tuesday.
The Dense Fog Advisory will go into effect for Southeast Louisiana at midnight on Wednesday, December 18th and last through about 10 a.m. the same day.
According to WDSU News, fog was seen in the areas of The Causeway bridge and Lake Pontchartrain on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Poor visibility caused by the fog is thought to have caused the 50 vehicle pile-up on the Causeway bridge on Tuesday morning. 33 people were hurt and at least 30 were left stranded on The Causeway bridge in the incident, which The Causeway Police Department says may be the worst accident in the bridge’s history.
Wednesday’s fog is predicted to be more impactful than the previous two days, which did not see official fog advisories. Drivers are advised to use caution during their morning commutes.
BATON ROUGE – Tuesday, the state’s Electoral College members cast their officials votes for U.S. president.
The eight members will cast their votes under oath for the next U.S. president and vice president.
All eight of them will be voting for president-elect Donald Trump after the Republican claimed the Louisiana votes.
You can watch the process on our YouTube page here:
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a report on December 16 focused on the seclusion, restraint, and abuse of special education students in public schools. This is the third audit from the LLA in the last two years as it has looked into the complaint process and monitoring of special education services in previous reports.
This stems from a nationwide report released in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights. That report found that students in special education classes make up 14% of the total K-12 enrollment, but account for 81% of physically restrained students, and 75% of students secluded.
According to Gina Brown, the audit manager for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, nobody is monitoring the use of seclusion and restraint across the public school systems in Louisiana.
“It’s not required anywhere to be monitored and so it’s not being monitored. LDOE it is our opinion that LDOE does have the authority to monitor this,” Brown says.
The Louisiana Department of Education responded to the audit, saying it “disagrees with the LLA’s contention that LDOE has the necessary authority to monitor how school systems use seclusion and restraint.”
Brown says in Louisiana, school systems are required to report the number of incidents where students are physically restrained or secluded. She says the data is collected but not really used for anything.
“We found after going into field work and interviewing teachers and talking to those different school districts, we found a discrepancy between what was being reported to the department. Compared to the number of instances that were actually happening at the school,” Brown says.
Back in 2022, the Louisiana Legislature approved $8.8 million for the department of education to give to schools to install cameras in special education classrooms. The funding went into effect in 2023, but so far only $2.2 million has been spent. Brown says that is most likely because parents are unaware that they have to actually request cameras be put into those classrooms for the school to then require it.
“If parents were more informed that they can request this form, they can request a camera, they may be more likely. We might see more of this funding being used,” Brown says.
According to Ted Beasley, the communications director for the Louisiana Department of Education, there have been a total of 181 requests for cameras and 988 cameras installed. Some schools did it proactively.
Another potential problem the audit highlights is the requirements around certifications for teachers. Public school teachers are required to be certified, but they are not required to be certified in charter schools. Brown also says Louisiana is the only state with no code of ethics out of the 10 states they surveyed. Louisiana also does not have a way to sanction the licenses of teachers accused of mistreating students but not convicted of a crime.
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