Two people were killed and 10 wounded in two shootings Sunday along the New Orleans parade route and celebrations attended by thousands, authorities said. There were no immediate arrests.
According to a news release from the New Orleans Police Department, officers responding to a report of shots fired on a street near St. Roch shortly after 3:30 p.m. found eight victims suffering from gunshot wounds. All eight people were transported to the hospital in unknown condition. Police later said a ninth injured person arrived at the hospital in a private car.
CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV reported that investigators said ballistics analysis showed two shooters were involved.
About 45 minutes later, as revelers were crossing the Almonaster Avenue Bridge about a half-mile to the north, police received another report of gunfire. Police said that one person died at the scene and another person died at the hospital. The third victim was transported to the hospital by car and is in stable condition, police said.
No arrests have been announced and no suspect information has been released.
The St. Roch neighborhood is located a few blocks northeast of the city’s French Quarter, which is popular with tourists.
Almonaster Bridge was closed in both directions during the investigation.
Police Chief Ann Kirkpatrick said detectives did not immediately know whether the incidents were related.
“They … were a different kind of approach,” she said of the shootings that occurred in the area where the ‘second line’ post-parade celebration took place.
Thousands of people gathered for the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s annual picnic in the Ninth Ward, organizer Oscar Brown told NOLA.com.
“This is a great event and we want to keep it a great event,” Kirkpatrick said.
This is the second mass shooting in the South. A shooting mars Tuskegee University’s homecoming weekend. A shooting in Alabama on November 10 left one person dead and 16 injured, 12 of whom were shot, authorities said.
