Suspect arrested in Bayou Vista shooting

A 23-year-old Bayou Vista man was arrested Tuesday night in connection with a Tuesday afternoon shooting in Bayou Vista during which a 30-year-old man was wounded in the torso and elbow, according to a St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office news release.
Cody Thibodeaux, 23, of Bayou Vista, was arrested at 7:56 p.m. Tuesday for attempted second degree murder and a warrant for failure to appear on the charge of criminal neglect of family.
At 1:04 p.m. Tuesday, St. Mary Parish sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call of a shooting near the intersection of Polaris and Saturn roads in Bayou Vista. Deputies also received information that a vehicle fled from the area in the direction of Teche Road. While working to establish a perimeter in the area of the Bayou Vista Community Center, a deputy located a man hiding in a metal structure near one of the ball fields at the recreational facility, the release stated.
The man, identified as Thibodeaux, was detained pending further investigation. Deputies located the vehicle that fled the scene of the shooting on Teche Road near Belleview Street and discovered an injured 30-year-old man who was transported by Acadian Ambulance to a hospital in Thibodaux for treatment, the news release stated.
The injured man was not identified.
During the investigation, detectives learned that Thibodeaux was involved in an argument with a female on Polaris Road when the domestic altercation escalated. Thibodeaux produced a gun and fired upon the male victim, striking him in the torso and elbow, according to the release.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Traci Landry said she would not get into the details of how the male victim was involved in the domestic dispute.
Landry said the sheriff’s office received reports of multiple gunshots heard at the scene, but did not know whether the victim was hit with multiple shots.
When asked if the shooting victim fired any shots during the incident, Landry said, “There is no other gunplay involved at this point.”
Thibodeaux fled the area of the shooting but was subsequently located by a deputy. The victim was treated and released from the hospital. The investigation is ongoing, the release stated.
Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Chief Ricky Roberts said his department responded to the 1200 block of Teche Road where the victim was taken by a bullet-riddled car.
The victim, Roberts said, received a single gunshot to the elbow, which also grazed his side.
A witness, who lives in the 200 block of Polaris Road, said she heard the victim arguing on the phone prior to the shooting, saw him look down Middle Road and say “Come on, come on” to someone.
The witness said, “Once I saw he was in trouble, I ran in the house.”
The witness heard several shots and looked out her kitchen window to see the victim, a black male, with blood down the side of his shirt, running down Polaris Road.
The witness saw a light-colored vehicle believed to be involved in the shooting as well as seeing the victim talking to a “white guy on a bike.”
Landry also said the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a complaint of a possible illegal discharge of a firearm in the vicinity of Saturn Road in Bayou Vista at 2:03 a.m. Saturday. The complaint remains under investigation, she said. At this point in the investigation, detectives do not believe Saturday’s complaint is in any way connected to Tuesday’s shooting, Landry said.