Crime & Justice

Woman Picking Up Gun for Protection Is Among Shootout Victims

CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE

Veronica Billiot and two others were killed in the chaos at a Louisiana gun shop.

2021-02-21T000939Z_1069177925_RC2OWL94MLDF_RTRMADP_3_LOUISIANA-SHOOTING_hnclhn
Catherine Koppel/Reuters

One of the victims of a chaotic shootout at a Louisiana gun shop was a grandmother picking up a weapon for protection who was caught in the crossfire, NOLA.com reported. Veronica Billiot, 59, was one of three people fatally shot at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday—which was apparently sparked by an argument between a customer and a clerk. Police believe that the customer, Joshua Williams, 27, shot employee Herbert Fischbach, 47—and then Williams and Billiot were fatally shot as others inside began firing. “She was completely innocent,” Billiot’s sister, Linda, told NOLA.com. Two other people were wounded but are expected to survive.

Read it at NOLA.com

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.