By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

 

The Port Arthur Police Department believe the 81-year-old man who was shot in the upper right chest may have been known to carry large amounts of cash.

During a press conference, Friday, detective Mike Hebert addressed two shootings that took place Friday.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday, PAPD responded to a call of shots fired at Legacy Senior Apartments, 3225 Lake Arthur Drive.

Upon arrival, police found the victim with a gunshot wound. The man was transported to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Hebert said the victim will not have surgery to have the bullet removed.

“Investigators do not believe that was a random robbery,” Hebert said. “They believe (the suspects) were waiting for him. I think he has been known to carry large amounts of cash at times. We believe it was a targeted robbery.”

Hebert said the victim exchanged gunfire with the would-be robbers and the suspects were unsuccessful in their attempt.

“He did fire back at the suspects,” Hebert said. “There was a small shootout at the apartments.”

Hebert said the victim was unable to give a description of the suspects except that they were two black males.

About an hour later, police responded to a shooting at the parking lot near KFC on Highway 365. Hebert said there is no reason to believe the shootings were linked in any way.

Hebert said two men were injured and neither were cooperative or wanted to file charges in the incident. Both men had gunshot wounds to the legs.

Witnesses said there was a shootout between the victims and who they claim were their assailants, Hebert said.

“It’s difficult to follow up on cases when the victims are not cooperative,” Hebert said. “That’s not to say we don’t want to identify the other individuals who were in the parking lot.”

The detective did not rule out the incident could be gang related.

“We do not feel that this was a random, isolated incident,” Hebert said. “We feel that the two groups of individuals went to that spot for a reason.”

The police department had already called in the graveyard shift early with much of the force responding to the officer-involved shooting that took place just hours prior to the shooting at the Lake Arthur Drive.

Given some residents reluctance to talk to police, Hebert said he hopes the community trusts the police department.

“We do a lot in the community,” Hebert said. “We do community policing and that’s where those bridges are formed. I will say that some of our homicides this year were solved by Crime Stoppers.”

Hebert cited a homicide investigation where an individual came into the department and gave amazing details of the homicide that led to an arrest within the hour.

“I think that shows that people trust us,” He said. “I think the majority of the people in the city do. Always remember that when you have that criminal subculture, they want to drive that wedge between the police and the community.

“…We have some of these shootings at our housing complexes and people are very hesitant to come forward. It’s not that they don’t trust the police. They fear for their own safety. Some of the complexes, you have single mothers. That’s something we are very alert to. They are put in very difficult situations. It’s very frustrating to investigators to know that someone witnessed a homicide, but they are too afraid to come forward. That’s where we have to bridge this gap.”