By Wesley Harris
About 60 to 70 residents gathered with Ruston city officials Monday evening to discuss crime and public safety following a fatal shooting at Huckleberry Trails Park earlier this month.
Ruston Police, assisted by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana Tech Police, responded to the park on Magnolia Drive at about 5 p.m. Aug. 2 after reports of multiple people running through backyards, including an armed suspect, and calls of active gunfire.
As officers secured the crime scene, emergency dispatchers learned two shooting victims had arrived at Northern Louisiana Medical Center by private vehicle.
Juel Carmine Rodriquez, 19, of Simsboro, was taken into custody by patrol officers as he walked along Maple Street just minutes after officers arrived in the area.
The shooting prompted Monday’s community meeting at The Springs, where Mayor Ronny Walker, Police Chief Eric Watson and Alderman Bruce Siegmund addressed residents about the homicide and broader concerns involving police staffing, drug activity, surveillance cameras, youth crime and neighborhood safety.
The Rev. George Lee, pastor of The Springs, welcomed the crowd and prayed with the group before the discussion began.
Siegmund said he had been in the park earlier on the day of the shooting and was devastated when he learned what had happened. He contacted Walker and Watson afterward and arranged the meeting so residents could hear directly from them and ask questions.
“Like you, I was devastated when I heard what happened and couldn’t believe it,” Siegmund said. “I had been in the park earlier that day, in fact, and so it just really hit me hard like it did you all.”
Siegmund asked those attending to express their concerns civilly and work toward solutions as a community. He emphasized the gathering was not intended as a political campaign event.
Walker said the city was already aware of concerns at the park following an incident about nine months ago. Police increased patrols afterward, and city utility workers installed additional lighting.
Walker also pointed to the city’s increased investment in law enforcement, including what he described as Ruston’s largest police budget, a drone response system and a $1.5 million federal grant secured through U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy for a real-time intelligence center.
The planned center will allow police to integrate cameras from participating businesses, schools and other locations to provide real-time information during shootings, robberies, fires and other emergencies as officers respond.
Watson told residents their anger over the shooting was justified.
“A quiet, peaceful neighborhood should stay a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, and any shooting in Ruston is entirely unacceptable,” Watson said.
Watson characterized much of the city’s serious violence as coming from a relatively small group involved in drugs and illegal firearms.
“We refuse to let violent crime become normalized in our community,” Watson said. “Ruston is not going to be your safe haven.”
Watson said investigators believe the Huckleberry Trails shooting was drug-related. He said one of the people involved lived in the area, which may explain why the groups met at the park.
He stressed, however, that police do not believe Huckleberry Trails has an ongoing problem with large-scale drug dealers. Investigators know the identities of most of those who were at the park, Watson said, and are continuing the investigation to determine whether others involved can be charged.
One resident said another park in the city had many more issues than Huckleberry Trails.
Much of the meeting was devoted to questions from residents, with concerns ranging from surveillance options to protect city parks to police staffing, juvenile crime and what residents can do to help prevent violence.
One resident asked what information the city’s license plate readers collect and what safeguards prevent officers from misusing the system.
Assistant Police Chief Dylan Castaneda said the readers record the location, time, date, license plate number and a photograph of the vehicle. Every search conducted by an officer is logged and can be reviewed if questions arise about why a particular plate was searched.
Castaneda said license plate data is generally retained for three months. Information involving a vehicle identified as part of an investigation can be retained for a year.
Watson defended his push for more technology as an important step in providing more effective tools to investigators. He pointed to a shooting last year at the Travel Plaza on West Alabama Avenue. Police obtained the suspect’s license plate number from a convenience store camera. The vehicle was then tracked through license plate readers as it traveled west from Ruston. The suspect was apprehended in Texas about 90 minutes after the shooting.
“That wouldn’t happen without those license plate readers,” Watson said. “So people can complain about them, but they solve crimes, and they’re good for us.”
Another resident asked what could be done to prevent groups from gathering at parks and other locations before trouble develops.
Watson said police authority is limited when no crime is occurring.
“There’s no law against gathering up at the baseball field on a Sunday afternoon,” Watson said. “There’s a law against bringing a gun and shooting at people.”
He said officers need a legitimate complaint or evidence of illegal activity before taking enforcement action against people using a public space. Residents who see drug use, alcohol violations, disturbances or other illegal activity should contact police.
Several residents questioned whether surveillance cameras could be added at Huckleberry Trails and other parks.
Walker said the city is considering cameras for all city parks but cautioned that additional public safety measures must compete with other needs in the city budget.
“When we do what we’re doing with the Police Department this year in our budget, that means something else has got to be kicked out [of another department],” Walker said.
Watson said cameras would allow dispatchers and officers to check conditions in parks before sending officers into a potentially volatile situation.
Residents also raised concerns about whether Ruston has enough police officers to provide adequate coverage as the city has grown.
Watson said the department had five patrol officers assigned per shift when he was hired last year, roughly the same number Ruston had when he served as a patrol officer in the 1990s. The department has since added about 10 patrol officers, he said.
Watson said the department currently has six or seven officers assigned to each shift and three recruits in the police academy. His goal is to reach seven officers on every shift by January and then establish a full-time directed patrol unit.
Walker said he has given Watson broad authority to hire more officers when he can find qualified people.
“I told both police and fire — our public safety departments — to keep hiring until I tell them to stop,” Walker said.
Watson said he won’t hire “just anybody” and the department’s recruiting and hiring procedures are designed to find the right kind of people to be officers.
Questions later turned to young people and the causes of violence.
A school counselor told officials she had spent years working with Ruston students and had become increasingly troubled by the number of young people affected by violence.
Watson said there are longstanding tensions between groups from east and west Ruston. Disputes increasingly play out through social media and then escalate into violence, he said. Police investigators monitor public social media activity, Watson said, because suspects sometimes post photographs of guns, drugs and money that can become evidence in criminal investigations.
Since 2019, Watson said, Ruston has averaged about five homicides a year. He said the Huckleberry Trails killing was the city’s first homicide of 2026.
The department does not currently have an officer assigned exclusively to juvenile cases, Watson said. Juvenile investigations are handled by detectives in the Criminal Investigation Division along with their other cases.
“I could use one or two juvenile officers,” Watson said, pointing again to the department’s need for additional staffing.
Other residents argued enforcement alone would not solve the problem, asking what could be done to provide more activities, mentoring and support for young people. One official said plenty of social services exist for troubled families, but the system cannot force them to take advantage of those programs.
The discussion included existing youth programs, nonprofit organizations, churches, neighborhood groups and ways residents could become more involved.
Watson said police have a defined role and cannot be expected to replace parents, counselors and social service organizations.
“We’re going to put offenders in jail, and we’re going to write summonses, and I’m not going to apologize for the enforcement of the law anywhere in this city,” Watson said. “It’s called proactive policing.”
Several speakers encouraged residents to get to know their neighbors, exchange telephone numbers, organize neighborhood watch groups and report suspicious activity rather than assuming someone else will call police.
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