Lafayette Motel Shooting Comes Days After Court-Ordered Closure

LAFAYETTE, La. — A juvenile was shot Saturday evening at the Plantation Motor Inn on Northeast Evangeline Thruway, police said. The shooting came eight days after a Lafayette judge ordered the motel closed for five years.

The victim was taken to a hospital and was listed in stable condition. No arrests have been made. The motel at 2810 NE Evangeline Thruway still had residents Saturday, and the judgment gives long-term tenants 45 days to leave.

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What Lafayette Police Have Said About the Shooting

Lafayette Police spokesman Sr. Cpl. Ken Handy said the shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Police announced it at 9:05 p.m., saying officers were on scene and had taken the victim to a hospital with apparent gunshot wounds. Investigators set up a crime scene. Handy said he did not believe the shooting happened inside a room, but he did not name a spot on the property.

He could not say whether the victim was a resident or a guest. No suspect information has been released, and the case remains under active investigation. The property is also known as the Plantation Inn.

Anyone with information can call Lafayette Crime Stoppers at (337) 232-TIPS (8477) or contact the Lafayette Police Department. Crime Stoppers callers can remain anonymous.

Judge Boustany's Five-Year Closure Order

Lafayette City Court Judge Roya Boustany signed a final judgment Oct. 9 ordering the Plantation Motor Inn to stop operating for five years unless it is released sooner under state law. The judgment followed a hearing Oct. 8. Boustany issued a preliminary injunction Sept. 30 after finding probable cause that the property was a public nuisance under state law.

The judgment permanently bars the owners, employees and agents from allowing certain criminal activity on the property. That covers violent crime, illegal weapons activity and the illegal manufacture, sale or distribution of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Violating the order could count as contempt of court, and an appeal would not delay enforcement.

The Police Call History Behind the Judgment

The Plantation Motor Inn generated 2,073 calls for service and 247 police reports from 2023 through Aug. 17, 2026, based on Lafayette Police data cited by the city-parish. That tally ends before Saturday's shooting.

Reported activity in that period included a November 2023 homicide, drug crimes involving substances such as fentanyl, and prostitution-related activity. Authorities seized 13 firearms and narcotics with an estimated street value above $114,000. Coverage at the time described two fatal shootings at the motel within three days that month.

The District Attorney's Office said both managers were arrested on drug-related charges, including charges involving PCP. Stacey Richard, a manager who has worked at the motel for 14 years with a five-year break, disputed the drug figures and the arrests.

She said many calls came from short-stay guests reporting disturbances she described as minor and unfounded. Richard also acknowledged a shooting in the back lot about three years ago, which she said stemmed from a drug deal and did not involve residents.

Residents Face a 45-Day Deadline

Long-term tenants who lived at the motel when the judgment was signed have 45 days to leave. That puts the deadline at Nov. 23, counting from Oct. 9.

Residents who prepaid for stays shorter than 45 days may remain until their contracts expire. The owner cannot sign new rental contracts or allow new residents.

The judgment directs Lafayette Consolidated Government to negotiate in good faith with the owner during that window to find a way to return the property to commerce.

Jamie Boudreaux, LCG's chief communications officer, said the owners could convert the property to transitional or long-term housing. Either option would require major capital investment, she said. If the talks fail, residents would have to be relocated.

Residents interviewed Oct. 9 described the motel as a last resort, and several said they had lived there for years. Charles Pollinge said he has stayed 10 years or longer and pays $45 a night.

LCG is working with the Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing (ARCH), the Lafayette Housing Authority, the Lafayette Parish School System and other partners on relocation. As of Oct. 12, the motel had not provided ARCH a tenant roster despite repeated requests, Executive Director Elsa Dimitriadis said. That left the number of former residents and their housing status unknown.

ARCH is asking residents who need housing to contact the coalition directly. Lafayette budgeted $300,000 for homelessness-related issues in 2026-27, including prevention and rapid rehousing.

Express Inn Was Closed One Day Earlier

Boustany ordered the Express Inn at 1314 NE Evangeline Thruway closed for five years on Oct. 8, a day before the Plantation Motor Inn order. City-parish data link the Express Inn to 1,902 calls for service, 294 police reports, 17 recovered firearms and about $114,658 in street-value narcotics from January 2023 through Aug. 17, 2026. Its judgment bars the property from being used or occupied during the five years.

An Aug. 26 inspection found violations involving the buildings' structure, stairs and railings, sanitation, plumbing, electrical systems, exits and fire detection and suppression. The property also had two fires in March, including a fire on the second floor of an unoccupied building. A city-parish administrative hearing on property-compliance concerns at the Express Inn is set for Nov. 4.

How Lafayette Is Going After Problem Properties

Prosecutors are using an expedited public-nuisance process under Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:4711 through 4715. Assistant District Attorney Chase Edwards said the law has been enforced only three times in Louisiana. District Attorney Don Landry said owners who let their businesses become havens for violent crime and narcotics activity now face being shut down.

Mayor-President Monique Boulet said Lafayette has a responsibility to act when a property repeatedly demands public resources. On Oct. 12, officials announced that five more properties could face similar action. They did not name the properties or set a timeline.

Edwards said officials identified the properties using criminal activity data compiled by Lafayette Police. He said authorities "can't just arrest our way out of these things."

The closures are part of a wider city-parish effort on dangerous and blighted property. When the Boulet administration took office, the city-parish had a backlog of about 1,200 dilapidated, dangerous, blighted and abandoned property cases, some dating to 2016. LCG now averages about 40 Administrative Adjudication Bureau cases twice a month and says it is closing more cases than it opens.

Demolition of the former La Quinta Inn at 2100 NE Evangeline Thruway began in August.

What Happens Next for the Plantation Motor Inn

Next on the calendar is the Nov. 4 administrative hearing for the Express Inn. The 45-day window for negotiations and tenant move-outs at the Plantation Motor Inn ends Nov. 23. Police have not released suspect information in Saturday's shooting, and officials have not said when the five other properties will be named.

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