A brother shot his brother dead in an apartment in the 800 block of South Beulah Street on Tuesday, according to Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot.
Police found Jonah Gobert, 29, crying loudly in the apartment where his brother, Benjamin Hurks, 35, was slumped over a sofa bed with a gun shot wound to the head, he said.
Police were called to the apartment at about 8 p.m.
Hurks was pronounced dead at the scene by a representative from the St. Landry Parish Coroner’s Office.
A .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene.
Gobert was taken into custody on a warrant for an Aug. 23, incident in which he was charged with criminal damage to property, simple assault and aggravated battery. The aggravated battery charge is a felony offense.
The Aug. 23 incident occurred at the same apartment complex. Gobert is accused of punching someone in the jaw, pulling a gun on the victim and striking a vehicle containing the victim with a pipe, Fontenot said.
Police have been trying to locate Gobert since that incident, he said.
Fontenot said it is unclear what provoked the shooting that was still under investigation Wednesday morning.
Gobert was taken to Acadian Medical Center and transferred to a hospital in New Orleans after the shooting, he said. The illness is not related to the shooting, he said.
Gobert was not booked, but a second-degree murder charge is likely upon his release from the hospital, Fontenot said.