Car fleeing from bullets crashes in downtown Baton Rouge over weekend

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - It almost looked like a movie set right in the middle of Downtown Baton Rouge this past weekend. But this time, the guns, bullets, screams and smoke were real, as was the danger.

That chaotic scene was the end of a rolling shootout right during the Friday dinner rush.

The wild video shows the aftermath of a scary car crash that took place at Town Square, near the Downtown Library and 19th Judicial District Courthouse.

Baton Rouge Police say the people in that vehicle were apparently driving away from bullets being shot in their direction.

The crash forced restaurant-goers and employees to suddenly become first responders of their own.

It was originally a nice Friday spent in downtown Baton Rouge for Chelsea Layne.

“I spent the afternoon riding about 8 miles on the bike with my two dogs, et my parents out here for dinner over at Jolie Pearl,” said Layne, who witnessed the crash.

She was eating at a table outside of the restaurant when suddenly she heard a loud noise coming closer towards her and her family.

“At about 7:50, we heard what appeared to be two distinct sounds of what sounded like gunshots. It all happened so quickly, we only really had time to speculate whether it was gunshots or fireworks,” she said.

Layne and her family backed up from near the street as they noticed a car speeding down North Boulevard in their direction.

“The driver turned into the turning lane to try and avoid those cars. And when he did, he made contact with about two or 3, then kind of ricocheted into this field here, then slammed into this embankment. Almost immediately the car caught fire, I’ve never seen that. It almost looked like a movie,” said Layne.

Officials with Baton Rouge Police tell WAFB, the car was fleeing from gunfire from another vehicle, that apparently started somewhere back on North Acadian. Then the car ended up crashing in the middle of downtown.

EMS got the call about the incident at 8:14 p.m.

We’re told one of the people in the car was struck by a bullet, but someone else apparently dropped them off at a local hospital later.

Bystanders rushed to not only put out the fire coming from the car, but to check on the people who were injured inside of it as well.

“I think a couple of guys over at Subway, and a couple of guys at Jolie Pearl were the first people to get there, and I didn’t get any of their names, but they were already outside,” said Layne.

The video Layne took also shows the moment a gun is picked up by a responding Baton Rouge Police officer.

“The first body I saw was pulled out, and it appeared that a gun had fallen out as well.

One of the bystanders kicked it (the gun) to the side. And we had to tell the police officer, hey, will you go ahead and grab that for us and get it out of this really hectic scene,” Said Layne.

She’s grateful people knew what to do and stepped in to help before first responders could arrive.

And says, this scary incident won’t keep her from enjoying her favorite spots downtown.

“You know, it happened so fast, but it’s not really something you process in the moment. It kind of wasn’t until after it, that I realized what had happened,” she said.

Police say the person who showed up to the hospital with a gunshot wound is expected to be okay.

There were no arrests made in this case.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.