By PIPER HUTCHINSON, Louisiana Illuminator
LSU announced an increase in police presence on campus for football games and the use of drones to monitor tailgates in response to on-campus shooting on two game days this season.
The measures were announced Thursday in response to Gov. Jeff Landry’s call for enhanced security this week.
Interim LSU President Matt Lee did not specify how many more law enforcement officers will be on patrol, saying that more information would be released next week. LSU hosts Texas A&M on Oct. 25 in what will be an afternoon or night game at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers are at Vanderbilt this Saturday.
Lee and LSU Board Chairman Scott Ballard also did not provide information regarding how much the increased security or drone presence would cost, who would be responsible for the bill or which police agency will monitor the drone footage.
Baton Rouge Police said at least two people exchanged gunfire near Highland Road and Dalrymple Drive as the homecoming game against South Carolina took place last Saturday, resulting in minor injuries to two men. A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection with the shooting and charged with attempted first-degree murder, bringing a firearm to a school campus and illegal use of a weapon.
Before Saturday’s game, police said a Jefferson Parish man accidentally shot himself in the leg on South Stadium Drive. Lawrence Hubbard, 18, was arrested after being treated at a hospital and charged with illegal use of a weapon and bringing a firearm on campus.
During the Sept. 13 game against Florida, police responded to shots fired near LSU’s law school. The incident remains under investigation.
Other security measures planned for LSU’s next home game include shutting down an unspecified section of Highland Road.
Unity Field, a tailgating area at the northeast corner of the intersection of Highland Road and South Stadium Drive, will be fenced off to all tailgates as a result of the violence, Lee said. The area has historically been the gathering spot of Black Greek organizations and other Black student groups.
“This isn’t about race. This is about place,” Lee said. “We’ve had a place that has been the source of significant problems for us, and so in advisement with law enforcement and with my own cabinet, we decide that we’ll fence that place off.”
Lee said the shootings have been traced to a student organization tailgate that gave inaccurate information on their request for tailgate permits. The student organization will be subject to discipline, though Lee declined to name the group.
Ballard said the university will also use the increased law enforcement presence to police nonviolent offenses to improve the game-day experience. Anyone caught smoking marijuana at the stadium will be ejected, he said. If they are season ticket holders, they will be prohibited from attending the next game, and anyone caught with illegal amounts of marijuana on campus will be arrested, he added.
“It’s just an overall sense of disorder that we have to tamp down on, because our priority is a premier game day experience,” Ballard said.
Lee would not address whether LSU would accept assistance from the Louisiana National Guard if they are deployed in Baton Rouge. Last month, the governor requested President Donald Trump’s support to activate the Guard to address crime in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Alexandria and Shreveport.
“I’m not going to speak to that at this moment,” Lee said. “Where we’re working right now is with local and state law enforcement agencies. We’re going to implement that on campus for the next game, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
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