BATON ROUGE — In a year-long probe of firearms data and other public records, WBRZ’s Investigative Unit has found that 1,642 different guns were stolen from private gun owners in the greater Baton Rouge area during the last two years.

The data, compiled for the first time into a single set, show that among nine municipalities, the city of Baton Rouge led the region with 737 guns stolen from cars and homes during 2024 and 2025. East Baton Rouge Parish residents had the second- most firearms reported stolen during that time span: 476.

“Those are guns that are being used to commit other crimes,” said Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse. “Those guns are then used usually in other crimes, especially by juveniles breaking into cars, and then they're not allowed to buy guns at the age they are. So, they're getting them illegally. A lot of times from stealing them and then using them in other crimes.”

Scientists at the University of California-Davis say stolen handguns are 22 times more likely to be recovered from a crime scene involving someone who legally can’t possess a firearm. Their research also shows that suspects who weren’t legally allowed to have a gun were 31 times more likely to have a stolen gun connected to a violent crime.

“You know, this 30-fold increase is, is quite dramatic,” said Hannah Laqueur, a UC-Davis firearms researcher. "When we're looking at all of the risk factors that we can measure for among legal handgun transactions, theft is by far the biggest risk factor for its use in crime."

The link between stolen guns and violent crime worsen the pain that many families already suffer.

Digging through a decade worth of crime records, WBRZ’s Investigative Unit linked stolen firearms to more than two dozen violent crimes, including shootings that killed children and left families grieving — including Terrez Coleman's.

Terrez was 7 when he died after a bullet tore through the car his family was riding in back in 2014. The bullet passed through his older sister, 11-year-old Ty'Lia before striking and killing him. 

"Suddenly it was a pain," Ty'Lia Coleman told the Investigative Unit, describing the moment she was shot. "And I looked down and I seen the wound. The gunshot wound. And I looked over to the side, and I seen my brother — the head going down — so I instantly started screaming for my mom."

The family didn't know until WBRZ told them that the gun used in the shooting had been stolen.

"Very angry," said Felicia Young, Terrez's mother. "An innocent child has gone. Behind somebody having a gun; having a gun ... a stolen gun."

State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle lost her grandson D'Shawn Brown in a shooting at a restaurant parking lot in January 2025. Baton Rouge police say two of the three men later charged in D'Shawn's death carried weapons illegally — and one of them had a stolen gun.

"The problem is not when it's in the responsible gun owner's hands," Marcelle said. "The problem is when someone steals that gun and it gets on the street."

Among the other violent crimes WBRZ's Investigative Unit traced to stolen firearms:
-the death of 8-year-old Diellon Daniels, killed in November 2024 when multiple men opened fire on his mother's car, striking two of his siblings in the process. At least one of the guns had been reported stolen.
-a stolen gun was connected to the death of 58-year-old victim Patricia Jackson, a woman killed in the parking lot of a hospital during a domestic argument in March 2025.
-a stolen firearm is also linked to the December 2022 shooting of high school senior Mehki Darville, who died while trying to mediate a fight outside a gas station. One teen convicted in connection with that shooting was sentenced to 60 years for manslaughter in the shooting that involved a stolen gun.
-just a month ago at Istrouma High School, police arrested student Marcus Washington Jr. who carried a stolen gun equipped with a machine gun conversion device to school. That gun went off inside a classroom before jamming. No one was hurt in that incident. But Washington faces criminal charges in connection with possession of that stolen gun.
-at Istrouma High in 2021, two other students were arrested on the same day after staff found handguns in the students' backpacks. One of the weapons, carried by a 14-year-old, was reported stolen.

“Even two guns stolen is a serious problem,” said Chief Morse. “The stolen guns are being used to commit other crimes. So, we really need responsible gun owners. If you're going to be a gun owner, be responsible. Have that gun locked up someplace out of reach. Don't keep it in your car.”

Morse says his officers recovered 369 stolen guns in 2024 and 2025. He said the majority of stolen guns his officers see have been stolen from unlocked cars. He also says most stolen weapons are handguns such as pistols and
revolvers. 

The latest data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives show more than 1 million guns stolen nationwide between 2017 and 2021. The ATF says 96% of those guns are stolen from private citizens. The other 4% are stolen from gun stores and during interstate transport. 

Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest rate of gun thefts.

"Stolen guns are still a good bulk of the source of crime guns in our country," said Joshua Jackson, special agent in charge at the New Orleans ATF field office. "They're stealing these firearms because they intend to sell them to somebody else who they should believe is going to engage in some sort of violent crime."

Because most states including Louisiana don't require gun owners to report when they have their guns stolen, it's hard to get definitive data on this problem. The ATF estimates about a quarter of a million guns are stolen in America every year.

Marcelle says the violence affects two families. She prays her grandson rests in peace and thinks about his 7-year-old son Denim, who finds it difficult to cope. "Loved his son. Loved his mom. Sisters, brother. His grandma as well," Marcelle said.

More than a decade later, Felicia Young continues to suffer unspeakable loss and grief. She and her family forever mourn little Terrez. 

"An innocent family suffering behind a stolen gun," said Young. "That's a wound that I have to live with. Deep cut. That's a piece of me gone for the rest of my life behind a stolen gun."