Allison Rice: LSU Student Shot To Death – 21-Year-Old College Senior Gunned Down In Her Car

Allison Rice: LSU Student Shot To Death: Baton Rouge police are looking to answers to an early Friday morning shooting that left a 21-year-old Louisiana State University student dead in her car.

Allison Rice, known as Allie to friends and family, was headed home, noshing on french fries, after a night out with friends at about 2 a.m. She got to the train tracks at Government Street at about the same time as a train and stopped to wait.

A witness reported hearing the train, then gunshots, as CrimeOnline previously reported.

Investigators said it appeared Rice tried to turn around in the street, but with multiple gunshot wounds, was unable to do so, WAFB reported. A nearby surveillance system recorded the sound of multiple gunshots, then screeching tires.

By the time police arrived, the train and any signs of a suspect were gone.

Allison Rice: LSU Student Shot To Death

A cross adorned with the face of slain Louisiana State University student Allison Rice has been stolen from the site of her memorial, according to her family.

According to police, Rice, 21, was shot to death inside her car while waiting at a Baton Rouge, La., train crossing at about 2:20 a.m. on Friday.

The marketing major’s loved ones put together a makeshift memorial at the site of the shooting, and the crucifix was a part of the memorial.

“This beautiful cross was stolen today,” Rice’s aunt Susie Rice Granier wrote in a Facebook post, which showed the custom-made cross.

Rice’s bullet-ridden vehicle was discovered near a popular social space called Electric Depot in Baton Rouge, PEOPLE previously reported.

A Baton Rouge Police Department news release confirms the LSU senior was “shot multiple times while sitting in the driver seat of her vehicle. Rice died at the scene.”

The investigation so far has revealed Rice was attempting a U-turn at the tracks when she was shot to death by an unknown assailant, according to police, who have not yet released a motive in the shooting.

No arrests have been made, and police have not released information on a possible suspect.

Rice will be laid to rest Wednesday in Prairieville, La., her obituary reads.

Speaking with Fox News Sunday, a grieving Granier remembered her niece’s vivacious spirit and loving nature.

“She was always smiling and happy,” Granier recalled. “I just picture her walking into her dad’s house and saying, ‘Hey everybody!’ and hugging and kissing everyone, smiling. She was just a bubbly person… Never met a stranger.”

Who Was Allison Rice?

Rice was 21 years old and a senior marketing major, per CBS affiliate WWLTV. Rice is from Geismar, Louisiana and graduated high school in 2019.

What happened?

According to ABC affiliate WBRZ, Rice’s car was found with multiple bullet holes at a railroad crossing. Five or six bullets were fired into the car.

WAFB reports that investigators believe it is possible Rice had stopped and waited for a train to pass. However, there was no train when police arrived at the scene. She was found near a “popular late night gathering spot” and prior to the shooting, investigators believe she had been with friends in the Mid City area of Baton Rouge.

Police are still investigating the motive behind the murder and trying to identify the shooter. It is not yet clear if Rice was targeted by the shooter.

Here’s how the community is responding

Several entities have responded to the tragic news of Rice’s death, including LSU, Baton Rouge’s mayor and her place of employment. LSU released a statement in response to the news of the student’s death.

“The LSU community is saddened to hear of senior Allison Rice being killed overnight. Her family and friends are in our thoughts, and we encourage anyone who may have more information about this crime to contact Baton Rouge Police,” the statement read, according to WBRZ.

The mayor’s office released a statement Friday morning, expressing sympathy toward Rice’s family, friends and peers.

“My heart goes out to the family, loved ones and classmates of Allison Rice, a young LSU student who had her entire life ahead of her. This senseless violence is completely unacceptable,” Mayor Sharon Weston Broome said in the statement.

Rice was employed at The Shed BBQ in Baton Rouge. The business voiced its sympathies via Facebook.

“We are beyond saddened by the tragic and senseless loss of one of our own. Allie, you will be so missed,” the post said.

Family speaks out about daughter who was shot, killed at train crossing

Allison Rice’s family members are speaking out, asking the public to call if they know anything that can help investigators solve Allie’s murder.

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

“We were woken up with a ring of the doorbell, 4:45 in the morning, which you know is never good,” said Paul Rice, adding that the words coming out of the police officer’s mouth were “life-altering.”

“I hope no one ever has to get that type of wakeup call ever again,” he added.

Paul Rice and his family were told their precious 21-year-old, Allie, had been shot and killed near the train tracks on Government Street. It was just after two in the morning, and she was driving home after hanging out with friends in Mid City.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZL_wzHZd0

When asked what he would say to the person who killed his daughter, Paul Rice said, “Why? Why, would you do this? Why, my sweet child who had her whole life ahead of her, who was doing nothing wrong? She is sitting there waiting on a train.”

Allie was a senior at LSU majoring in marketing. Having grown up in Ascension Parish, she graduated from Dutchtown High School where she was a cheerleader and on the homecoming court.

Besides her studies, family members say Allie was always hard at work. She worked at The Shed BBQ restaurant on Burbank Drive, along with several of her siblings and her step-mom.

Paul Rice said she was very goal-oriented and about to start an internship.

He says he was “absolutely proud of her.”