A 14-year-old was shot in Alexandria over the weekend, and police have arrested a 15-year-old in connection with the attack. Officers responded to 6101 North Bolton Road around 1 p.m. on Sunday after reports of shots fired, and found the teen suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
The 14-year-old was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the Alexandria Police Department. Investigators arrested a 15-year-old suspect in connection with the shooting, and that juvenile has been charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Alexandria Police Chief Chad Gremillion addressed the arrest directly, saying there is no excuse for a 14- or 15-year-old to possess a firearm. He added that the department will continue to aggressively pursue those responsible for gun violence, regardless of their age, and will continue to investigate violent crime and hold those responsible accountable.
Chief Calls on Parents to Step In
Gremillion also turned the conversation toward families, saying parents and guardians need to know where their children are, who they associate with, and whether they have access to firearms. He was blunt about the limits of policing alone. “Law enforcement cannot solve the problem alone, and parents, families, and the community must help prevent juveniles from accessing firearms,” Gremillion said.
The North Bolton corridor has seen repeated violence in recent years. In January 2023, a suspect opened fire on officers during an active standoff on North Bolton Avenue, and one officer was hurt and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, per a report from kalb.com. In 2021, a shooting in the 600 block of North Bolton left one victim hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, the outlet also reported.
Other Juvenile Gun Cases in the Area
This is not the first time a 15-year-old has landed in custody near Bolton Avenue. In June 2025, the Alexandria Police Department arrested a 15-year-old juvenile in connection with an attempted armed robbery in the 200 block of Bolton Avenue, charging the teen with armed robbery, juvenile possession of a handgun, and simple burglary, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
Nearby in Pineville, a 16-year-old identified as Delton Dewayne Chapman is facing six counts of attempted murder along with charges including drive-by shooting, criminal damage to property, armed robbery, and possession of a handgun by a juvenile, according to the Rapides Parish Journal.
A Broader Pattern in Youth Gun Violence
The Alexandria shooting lands amid troubling national numbers on firearms and children. A Johns Hopkins report found that gun violence was the leading cause of death for U.S. young people ages 1 to 17 for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, with 2,214 total gun deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. Among those, the report counted 450 firearm deaths specifically among children ages 10 to 14 that year.
Overall, guns were involved in the deaths of 44,447 people in the United States in 2024, a 5% decline from the prior year, per the same report. A separate Johns Hopkins state-data page notes that firearms were the leading cause of death among Louisiana young people ages 1 to 17 in 2024, though that figure comes with lower confidence than the department's account of the Alexandria shooting itself.
