BATON ROUGE - Days before the Thanksgiving Day holiday, tragedy has upended the lives of multiple Baton Rouge families amid a weekend of violence.

Since Friday, at least four shootings have taken the lives of five individuals in the capital city, and on Monday morning, representatives with the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) addressed the public regarding the recent shootings.

Police Chief Murphy Paul and other officials spoke to the public from BRPD Headquarters at 10 a.m.

The meeting is available to view in the Facebook video below.

On Friday alone, four deadly shootings were reported by local authorities when:

- 54-year-old Brian Dawson was found shot to death in the 1000 block of Aster Street around 9 p.m. 

- A 19-year-old died during a home invasion and shooting that happened around 7 p.m. in the 3700 block of Eleanor Street.

- Two people were shot and killed on S. Sherwood Forest Boulevard around 12:30 p.m. during a robbery. Both the intended target and the robber died. An unknown person shot the robber and fled the area, according to police.  

-A man was found dead at the Vel Rose Motel located on Airline Highway Friday morning, near North Foster Drive. 

On Sunday afternoon, a man was reportedly shot and injured during an incident that occurred outside of a home within the 12000 block of White Chapel Road, near Siegen Lane.

According to East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William 'Beau' Clark, a total of 120 homicides have occurred in East Baton Rouge Parish in 2020, and 110 of those were due to gun violence. 

In October, authorities expressed frustration over the rising number of shootings and deadly domestic incidents and pleaded with the public to help prevent such crimes before they unfold by contacting police in regards to any friends, family members, or acquaintances who appeared to be on the verge of committing a violent act. 

Now, a little over a month later, officials are once again addressing citizens with the very same concerns, and urging anyone with information about the recent shootings to contact Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.