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Police tape can be seen across the Main Street entrance of the Avoyelles Parish courthouse on Tuesday.

Avoyelles Courthouse increases security in light of fatal shooting incident

"Temporary" measures will last at least a few weeks

 

By RAYMOND L. DAYE
   Several Avoyelles Parish deputies were deployed in and around the parish courthouse last week to provide enhanced security in the wake of the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy by Marksville deputy marshals.
   Joey Frank, director of the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness, said the measures are currently temporary “but we will see. We’re not sure for how long, but right now it will be for at least a few weeks.”
   Visitors to the courthouse can be asked to submit to a “wand search” by deputies to ensure there are no weapons being brought into the building.
   “Before, we just searched people going upstairs to the courtrooms,” Frank said. “People could come in on the other floors and go wherever they wanted.”
   In light of the emotional shooting death of Jeremy Mardis -- an autistic child who attended 1st grade at Lafargue Elementary -- authorities have deemed it wise to increase security.
   The beefed up law enforcement presence comes as early voting in the Nov. 21 elections is underway.
  Asked if the presence of uniformed deputies might deter voters from going into the courthouse to cast their ballots, Frank said, “it shouldn’t. I saw quite a few people coming in today (Tuesday). It was about the same as I saw Saturday,” when early voting began.
    Early voting in the Registrar of Voters office ends this Saturday.