By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – In a violent weekend for St. John the Baptist Parish, Sheriff detectives are investigating a possible homicide this morning, as well as a shooting Saturday that injured two LaPlace residents.

The homicide investigation began at 5:09 a.m. Sunday when a call to 911 reported a man lying in the middle of the street in the 400 block of Elm Street in LaPlace. According to a Sheriff’s Office release, the man, identified as 46-year-old Joseph McGee of LaPlace was found with blunt force trauma to the back of the head. McGee was transported to River Parish Hospital in LaPlace where he was pronounced dead.

Capt. Dane Clement, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said detectives do not yet know what caused the head trauma. He said evidence at the scene was limited and there are no known witnesses. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday to determine what caused the head injury.

Clement said detectives are attempting to learn the whereabouts and actions of McGee Saturday night through early Sunday morning.

Meanwhile in an unrelated incident, two people were shot early Saturday morning in the 100 block of Madeline Court in LaPlace.

Clement said deputies were called to a residence in the block just before 2 a.m. Saturday and found a 42-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the forehead and torso along with an 18-year-old female with gunshot wounds to the neck and buttocks.

The victims were transported to an area hospital with what was described as non-life threatening injuries.

Clement said the victims told deputies that a black male came to the residence about 1:30 a.m. asking for an unidentified person by name. The suspect left and returned two more times before firing at the door. Clement said the male victim was standing at the door when he was shot, while the woman was sitting on a couch.

Anyone with information regarding either the shooting or the homicide should call St. John the Baptist Parish Detectives at 985-359-8769 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.