By Billy Davis

Law enforcement officials said the most recent weekend passed without incident following the shooting death of two brothers last Thursday night.

Authorities said Lacardo Moore, 26, and Shundarrus Moore, 17, were killed in retaliation for a shooting that occurred minutes earlier elsewhere in Batesville.

Local law enforcement was poised to react to any more incidents, but Batesville Police Chief Tony Jones and Sheriff Dennis Darby reported the weekend concluded without any retaliation shootings.

District Attorney John Champion held a press conference Friday in Batesville after the two deaths to explain the pair of shootings that broke out around 10 p.m. March 29.

The district attorney described an “ambush shooting” on Everette Street in Batesville that was followed approximately 30 minutes later with the shooting of the Moore brothers at the Westridge Apartments.

Batesville police responded to the Everette Street shooting at approximately 10:01 and to the apartments at 10:30, he said.

Three people were shot on Everette Street and all of them were treated and released from the hospital.

No arrests had been made by late Friday but Champion said authorities “will shake every tree and look under every bush” to put a stop to a string of gang-related violence.

On Monday, Batesville police were questioning a possible suspect, a teenager, about the shooting but no charges had been filed, said Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale.

Authorities said street gangs Vice Lords and the Gangster Disciples had been fighting after a confrontation at a nightclub in the county.

Batesville police have said the shooting death of Jeremy Wright in January stemmed from the nightclub incident, which itself kicked off a string of shootings into cars and homes over the last three months.

The Moore brothers were shot in the head while in a Chevy Impala at the apartments, Champion said, answering a question from a TV reporter who asked if that rumor was true.

At Westridge, smashed shrubs and a broken fence showed where the Impala came to a stop in the rear of the apartment complex.

The Moore brothers were deceased when police officers arrived on the scene, said Champion.

Champion confirmed the back-to-back shootings were gang-related but would not disclose who was affiliated with the battling gangs.

The district attorney also said an AK-47 could have been involved in the Thursday shootings but did not speculate further.

The AK-47 fires a 7.62 mm round. The round that struck and killed Wright was a .223 round, commonly found in AR-15 rifles and Mini-14 rifles among others.

In a preliminary hearing last week, a Batesville police detective testified that an 18-year-old, Marico Fondren, fired the shot that killed Wright.

So far four have been charged with Wright’s murder and two others, both females, have been charged with conspiracy.  

Cooley’s Mortuary in Batesville is in charge of arrangements for Lacardo Moore and Shundarrus Moore. Arrangements had not been made by press time Monday.