In the early morning of July 15, 2023, gunfire in the 400 block of Commerce Street in Shreveport left several people wounded and 26-year-old Eric Deamon Scott dead. Police and Shreveport Fire Department personnel arrived shortly before 2:30 a.m.; five victims were taken to local hospitals and four were listed in stable condition, while Scott later died of his injuries.

Shreveport Police Violent Crimes and Homicide detectives quickly investigated and identified a suspect, and an arrest warrant was issued for 29-year-old Brandon Batiste on a charge of second-degree murder; authorities later said Batiste was taken into custody. A few months later a Caddo Parish Grand Jury returned an indictment naming John Henry Ruffin J, a 41-year-old man killed outside a downtown nightclub, as the homicide victim in an indictment against Batiste, along with attempted second-degree murder and other charges. Available reports do not definitively link that indictment to the death of Eric Deamon Scott.

Did anyone in Shreveport see the shooting on Commerce Street or have information about Scott’s death?