A 21-year-old Louisiana State University student was shot to death early Friday morning while she was in her car, stopped at a train crossing.
Allison Rice was a senior majoring in marketing at the Baton Rouge school. She worked at a restaurant called The Shed, where several family members also worked.
Police found Rice dead in her car at about 2 a.m. on the eastern side of the tracks at Government Street. A witness told WBRZ they heard the train, then the shots.
The station obtained audio from a nearby surveillance system — the shooting was not seen on video — which recorded about a dozen shots as the train passed by. When the gunfire stops, a car’s screeching tires are heard.
Baton Rouge Police have not said whether they have any suspects or an idea of the motive in the shooting.
“Detectives are out talking to neighbors in that community, reaching out to business owners seeing if we can review some surveillance footage that they may possibly have,” police spokesperson L’Jean McKneely said Saturday morning.
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Another witness told WBRZ the area has problems. Floyd Norman said a fatal shooting “is not suprising.”
“We got a lot of problems around here,” he said. ” … when night fall, I try not to leave my house. I’m not trying to be out here at night.”
The Shed posted about Rice’s death on Facebook on Friday and was open for business on Saturday so patrons could watch the LSU-Mississippi State football game on its 18 screens.
“It’s just devastating,” co-owner Chez Ciccone told WBRZ. “My staff, they’re just crying. She was a part of our family. She was a wonderful girl with her whole life ahead of her, and her only crime was being stuck at a train track.”
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[Featured image: Allison Rice/Facebook]
