Lake Charles donut shop owner accused of firing gun to break up verbal altercation

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - A donut shop owner was cited after allegedly shooting a gun to break up a small group of people arguing outside of her store.

The incident happened at the Donut King on Hwy. 14 in Lake Charles on Wed., Sept. 14.

Witnesses say there was a verbal altercation taking place outside of the store when an employee called the owner, Trudy Veillon, on the phone. Veillon pulled up with another employee and the witness told KPLC that Veillon did not stop to ask what was going on before pulling out a gun.

Photos of Veillon waving the gun have been circulated widely on social media.

“[She] got out the car of the passenger seat, got to the back seat of the passenger, grabbed the gun, put the gun in the air, and shot it in the air,” Kelli Murray told KPLC. “Then proceeds to walk toward us, point the gun at my face first, she put the gun in my face and said get the [expletive] in the car, get the [expletive] in the car. The whole time her finger was on the trigger, it never left off.”

Lake Charles Police said the gun was fired to disperse the crowd, but no one was hurt. Police issued Veillon a misdemeanor summons for illegally discharging a gun within city limits.

“Everybody was separated, it’s not like everybody was on top of each other,” Murray said.

Veillon did not return KPLC’s request for comment.

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