Two people were killed and 10 others injured in two separate shootings along a New Orleans parade route and a celebration attended by thousands on Sunday, authorities said. No immediate arrests were made.
Officers responding to reports of gunfire shortly after 3:30 p.m. on an avenue in the city’s St. Roch neighborhood found eight victims with gunshot wounds, according to a New Orleans Police Department news release. All eight were taken to hospitals in unknown condition. Police later said a ninth injured person arrived at a hospital via a private car.
WWL-TV, an affiliate of CBS New Orleans, reports that investigators say ballistics showed two shooters were involved.
About 45 minutes later, police received another report of gunfire as revelers crossed the Almonaster Avenue Bridge, just over half a mile (0.8 km) north. One person died at the scene and another died at a hospital, police said. A third victim was driven to a hospital in a private vehicle and was in stable condition, police said.
No arrests have been announced and no suspect information has been released.
The St. Roch neighborhood is located several blocks northeast of the city’s French Quarter, which is popular with tourists.
The Almonaster Bridge was closed in both directions during the investigation.
Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said investigators did not immediately know if the incidents were related.
“It was… different types of approaches,” she said of the shootings, which took place in the area where a “second line,” a celebration after a parade, was taking place.
Thousands gathered for the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s annual outing in the 9th Ward, organizer Oscar Brown told NOLA.com.
“It’s a wonderful event, and we want to keep it a wonderful event,” Kirkpatrick said.
It was the second major shooting in the South since then gunfire marred a homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University in Alabama on Nov. 10, killing one person and wounding 16 others, a dozen of them from gunfire, authorities said.
