Two men, two shootings, more questions

On July 22 and 23, two men fired guns in two separate incidents in two separate Lafayette locations. Both men had a history of mental heath issues and had threatened violence in the past.

One was a stranger to Lafayette who spent most of his life in Alabama and Georgia, the son of prominent parents. The other was a local man, part of a wealthy Acadiana business family.

In one instance, the results were horrific: Two young women died and nine people were injured before the shooter killed himself. In the other, no one was injured.

However, the similar circumstances and the timing of the shootings have cast both into a larger conversation about the connection between mental illness and gun violence.

It's a problem when a person who is mentally unstable "can get access to a gun and wreak havoc on our community," state Rep. Terry Landry said in a news conference July 24, only hours after John R. Houser opened fire in Lafayette's Grand 16 Theatre. "It's our job as legislators to close the loopholes in these gun laws," he said.

Actress Amy Schumer and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a cousin, announced Monday a new public initiative tackling gun violence. The plan would focus on background checks and mental health funding, rewarding states that submit all necessary records into background-check systems and penalizing states that don't submit records. The theater shooting occurred during a showing of the actress' movie "Trainwreck."

Harassment, threats

On the evening of July 22, Braxton Moody IV, 66, of Lafayette, allegedly fired three shots into the Cadillac Escalade of Dr. J. Lee Leonard III that was parked outside a Lafayette home. Leonard is in a relationship with Moody's ex-wife.

In 2003, while he was in a mental hospital, Moody allegedly threatened to hurt or kill Leonard, prompting the hospital to notify Leonard of the threat. A protective order obtained by Leonard at the time, but later dropped, prohibited Moody from having any firearms in his possession.

When he was arrested last week at the Baton Rouge Airport, Moody had a handgun and a shotgun in his vehicle.

Moody, in February 2011, was arrested in Okaloosa County, Florida, after he allegedly pointed a hunting rifle at a maintenance worker at a condominium his family owned in Destin, Florida.