SHREVEPORT, La. — Gunfire on a quiet stretch of Caldwell Street late Friday killed a 21-year-old man who had been out on his bicycle, and his death pushes the number of homicides in Shreveport this year to 40.
Reginald Savannah was found by Shreveport Police Department officers in the 1700 block of Caldwell Street, a short distance from Freddie Street in the Martin Luther King Jr. neighborhood. He was lying on the ground next to his bike after being struck several times in the head. He died where he fell, and the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office put the time of death at 11:36 p.m. on Oct. 23.
Savannah lived at the house where the shooting took place, and he was shot just outside it. Investigators said one or more people ran from the area after the shots. As of Saturday, nobody was in custody, no suspect had been publicly identified and no charges had been filed. The Shreveport Police Department is handling the case and asks anyone who knows something to call the department.
The killing adds to a rise in homicides that city leaders have been watching. In a year-to-date crime briefing for the city council, the police chief reported that homicides were up by five cases compared with the same stretch of last year. That rise came even as shootings overall dropped by 14% and the total count of felony offenses fell, led by double-digit declines in property crime.
The chief also told council members that detectives are closing nearly 90% of homicide cases, a rate he credited to new investigative technology, and that the department is adding take-home patrol cars for officers who live inside city limits to put more patrol hours into neighborhoods each week.
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