Law enforcement officers are still sorting out an apparent gun battle between the occupants of two cars on Beacon Light Road last week.
The Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-vehicle crash just outside the Ruston city limits last Tuesday night. Before deputies reached the scene, additional information was received of a “drive-by” shooting near Mayfield Park (formerly Woodland Park) just inside the city.
Deputies found a black Honda Accord and a gray Ford Focus, both with heavy damage and abandoned, the occupants having fled the area. The Honda bore bullet holes in its side and windshield. Shell casings were found on the roadway.
In an inventory of the vehicles, deputies found a Springfield XD-9 pistol on the rear floorboard of the Ford. The handgun was determined to have been stolen in Lincoln Parish.
While investigating the scene, authorities learned one of the involved parties was at the North Louisiana Medical Center. Jonathan M. Waggoner, 19, of Ruston, was interviewed at the hospital.
Waggoner said he was driving the Ford Focus at the time of the crash. He said two males were in the car with him, but he did not know their names. He said he turned onto Beacon Light Road when he heard gunshots and then the Honda crashed into him. Waggoner said he ran from the car and was picked up by an ambulance at the park.
Waggoner denied knowledge of the pistol in his car; he said it had to belong to one of the two unidentified men.
A records check indicated Waggoner is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for illegal possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is also being held for the Louisiana Department of Corrections—Probation and Parole.
Bail was set at $30,000.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
