Police say man shot ex-girlfriend, then doused her teen son with gasoline

Published 10:36 pm Thursday, March 26, 2020

Ferriday, Louisiana, police arrested a man who allegedly shot at his ex-girlfriend and doused her 17-year-old son with gasoline Sunday night.

Stephen Lipscomb, a detective with Ferriday Police Department, said police arrested Joe L. Atkins Jr., 41, on Monday and charged him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, attempted aggravated arson, home invasion, attempted second-degree murder in connection to the Sunday incident.

Lipscomb said the victim filed a police report after 10 p.m. Sunday and stated that Atkins had invaded her mother’s house on Sixth Street in Ferriday and entered a bedroom with a water bottle filled with gasoline and dumped the gasoline on her 17-year-old son in his bed before running from the house.

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The woman drove up to the house as Atkins was leaving and he began shooting at her vehicle and she drove to the police department to make a report, Lipscomb said.

Police obtained a search warrant to search a residence on Fudickar Street in Ferriday on Monday and officers said they found Atkins and Jeremy Lee, 38, inside the residence with a firearm, marijuana, ecstasy, hydrocodone and a pharmacy-grade pint of prescription cough syrup.

Both men were arrested and face weapon and drug charges with the intent to sell or distribute and Atkins also faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, attempted aggravated arson, home invasion and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

They were being held at the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office jail without bond on Wednesday.