Business owner whose cameras caught cars in a shoot-out speaks on importance of having cameras
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) - John Goddard, the owner of Acadiana RTO, a Rent to Own dealership, spoke with News 10 about the shooting that happened Monday afternoon at the intersection of Johnston St. and SW Evangeline Thruway.
“It’s unusual to have that kind of thing happen at a busy intersection like this and have people shoot. You have cars going that way and cars going this way; there’s a really good chance that someone is going to get hit,” said Goddard. ”It sounds like Chicago or something, but it’s kind of unusual for us to have something like that here.”
The owner said it was the first his business had seen a shooting. Often times at night they would hear shooting further off to the east of their location.
Police said people in two vehicles were on the road and began shooting at each other. When police arrived at the scene, both drivers left the area. Police said no one was injured, according to reports.
The owner was not at the business during the time of the shooting, but he said a couple of workers were there.
“I have two mechanics, and they were both afraid of looking at the people when they turned around and were back down Johnston Street. They didn’t want them to see them because they were afraid they would come back and do something to them,” he said.
He said his business has 16 cameras. His cameras notify him soon as someone gets on his property. He shared how he had issues with the theft of catalytic converters which was happening weekly until he got cameras installed.
“People should probably invest in cameras because both my neighbor and I have high-end cameras, and my cameras have cut back my theft problem; by 90% probably,” said the owner. “The cameras would probably be the big thing if I were trying to get a message out to people to invest in cameras. They’re not that expensive. You can go on eBay for 250 dollars to get some decent cameras. They’re Chinese, but they last five or six years. They’re not all that bad.”
Lafayette Police Department is investigating. If you have any information, call the police department or crime stoppers at 337-232-TIPS.