BATON ROUGE - A key that grants unfettered access to an undisclosed number of mailboxes in the Baton Rouge area has been stolen by armed robbers after they followed a letter carrier on his delivery route in Sherwood Meadows. 

"I've seen the postman a couple of times ride through here. He comes, delivers the mail. The mail comes on time," one neighbor said. 

The victim told police he was attacked about 4 p.m. on June 16 on Hermadel Drive off Old Hammond Highway according to a search warrant filed in the case.

"It's a little nerve-wracking. Normally, this is a safe, quiet neighborhood," another neighbor said. 

The mailman said a vehicle tailed him through the neighborhood and then swooped in front of him and stopped. Two masked men with guns jumped out. They demanded the key that "opens all of the mailboxes," and one robber shoved his gun into the mailman's ribs, the warrant said.

That robber also demanded his wallet but the other robber said they should get away quickly, so they sped away in the waiting vehicle.

BATON ROUGE - Three people were involved in a shootout at a busy gas station that left a man dead. 

Baton Rouge Police swarmed the Benny's car wash and B-Quik gas station on Perkins Road around 1:20 p.m. in response to the shooting. Richard Eackles Sr., 27, was found dead next to a vehicle at the car vacuums. 

Police said there were two "very young" children inside the vehicle when the shooter opened fire on the victim.  They were not hurt. 

"Fortunately they were uninjured," EMS supervisor Mike Chustz said. "We got them out of the car immediately upon arrival, put them in the back of the ambulance, put an assessment on them. They had no injuries."

Investigators suspect the shooting was result of an ongoing feud between Eackles and the 19-year-old shooter, Kamayrion Glasper. The two reportedly opened fire on one another after they saw each other at the car wash vacuums. Eackles was killed in the shootout, and an unidentified passenger in Eackles' vehicle shot and wounded Glasper, police said.

The gunfire was so chaotic, workers at a nearby costume shop found a bullet hole inside their business.

Chustz said the car wash is also next door to a fire station where two paramedics were on duty. He said the two heard the gunshots and immediately responded.

Police arrested Glasper for the shooting later Thursday afternoon. He was booked with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. 

Police are still searching for the person who shot Glasper.