Gabrielle Nicole Joseph Bessix: 27-Year-Old Shot Dead In Baton Rouge

Gabrielle Nicole Joseph Bessix was shot dead in front of her home on Monday, August 20, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Gabrielle Nicole Joseph Bessix was trying to get away from a man she had a restraining order against when she met her end, police say.

On a warm summer day in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police said Bessix was gunned down and her friend who came to her aid was shot as well, but is expected to survive. The shooter, identified as Broderick Jhy Edwards, 25, took his own life shortly after, according to authorities.

The shooting, described as a domestic situation, occurred Monday, August 20, 2018, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III told local media.

 Although the two were in a relationship at some point, Bessix took out a temporary restraining order against Edwards in July. The order expired on August 15.

Five later, police said Bessix and Edwards were fighting at her home on Bunker Hill Drive near LSU's campus when Bessix called her friend to come over.

When the friend arrived, she witnessed Edwards chasing Bessix from the residence, according to The Advocate newspaper. That's when the 27-year-old friend said Edwards pulled out a gun at fatally shot Bessix. He then turned the gun on the friend, who by that time had tried to drive away, and shot her as well. Her injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Edwards then reportedly ended his life outside the home near Bessix's body, according to local media.

Ezekial Talbert, a neighbor, told a local TV station that seeing yellow crime tape so close to home is a wake-up call. 

“The times that we’re living in, crime is going everywhere, there is no safe place, there is no totally safe place," Talbert told WAFB-TV. "Crime is everywhere and it’s going into the affluent neighborhoods where you normally don't hear it."

Bessix has a 9-year-old daughter who was at school when her mother was murdered.