BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge police and the East Baton Rouge coroner's office report that 81 people have died in violent crimes so far this year, including 15 juveniles. Though the number of homicides is down from this time in 2025, the number of young people killed in homicides is up.  

BRPD Lt. L. Jean McNeely said shooting incidents and shooting victims are slightly up, and youth violence is also trending upward from this time last year.

"There's been a trend... involving juveniles," BRPD Lt. L. Jean McNeely said. "Juveniles are more engaged and involved in criminal activity. They're out there committing violent acts using guns."

According to police, more than 2,000 felony arrests have been made in 2026; 359 of those arrests have been juveniles. Police data shows 49 people have been arrested in killing cases in 2026; four of those arrests involved juveniles.

Coroner data shows that as of September 2026, 15 juveniles have died in killings, compared to 2025, when nine juveniles died in killings throughout the entire year.

Police say by September of 2025, 526 juveniles had been arrested on felony charges, and 11 juveniles were arrested in killing cases.

"We're putting them in parish prison and charging them as an adult at 17," McNeely said.

On Sunday, police said they arrested a juvenile in connection with a gas station shooting near Scenic and 78 Avenue. Investigators believe the juvenile started an argument with an 18-year-old and then fired at him. The juvenile is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm by a juvenile. 

Mothers Demand Action—a violent crime prevention advocacy group—says the problem needs to be addressed. 

"It's an angry problem going on that needs to be addressed, and to address that, people need to talk to them," a spokesperson for the group said. "And when you're talking to them, you have to show love, because some of these kids are in these situations; they don't have the love that they need at home."

Mothers Demand Action says they're continuing to work to prevent youth violence even in the face of the bleak numbers.