Oh goodness, I didn’t notice this news till recently:
Nineteen injured in New Orleans parade shooting
Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother’s Day neighbourhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 19, including two children.Police said that many of the victims were grazed and most of the wounds weren’t life-threatening. No deaths were reported.
2 dozen injured in New Orleans Mother’s Day parade shooting
FBI spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig said federal investigators have no indication that the shooting was an act of terrorism. “It’s strictly an act of street violence in New Orleans,” she said. The southern city has one of the highest violent crime rates in the US. A news release said the wounded included two 10-year-olds. It also said two people were in surgery.
As many as 400 people joined in the procession that stretched for about 3 blocks in what’s known as a second-line parade, a loose procession in which people dance down the street, often following behind a brass band. They can be impromptu or planned and are sometimes described as moving block parties. Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events. Only about half the participants were in the immediate vicinity of the shooting, Serpas said.
May 12, 2013: New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother’s Day in New Orleans. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother’s Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said.
Police saw three suspects running from the scene. No arrests had been made as of late afternoon. A social club called The Original Big 7 organised Sunday’s event. The group was founded in 1996 at a housing project, according to its MySpace page. The neighbourhood where the shooting happened was a mix of low-income and middle-class houses, some boarded up. As of last year, the neighbourhood’s population was about 60% of its level before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.
The crime scene was about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter and near the Treme neighborhood, which has been the centerpiece for the HBO TV series “Treme.” Sunday’s violence comes at a time when the city is struggling to pay for tens of millions of dollars required under a federal consent decree to reform the police department and the city jail.
Shootings at parades and neighborhood celebrations have become more common in recent years as the city has struggled with street crime. Earlier this year, four people were shot following an argument in the French Quarter during the last weekend of partying before Mardi Gras. The victims survived, and several suspects were eventually arrested.
Police vowed to make swift arrests. “We’ll get them. We have good resources in this neighbourhood,” Serpas said. Police also say a reward of $10,000 is being offered for information leading to arrests and indictments in the case.
Luckily there are no reports of any deaths, so lets hope that all the victims will pull through and the suspects be caught soon. For goodness sake…this was supposed to be a day of celebration – Mother’s Day!
