Two people are dead following separate shootings in downtown New Orleans that took place within two hours of each other. One of those shootings happened in the Central Business District, while the other happened on the edge of the French Quarter.
The first incident took place around 12:20 a.m. at the corner of Perdido and Lasalle Streets. Police say they found the victim dead at the scene. So far, investigators have not developed any suspects or motives.
The other shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. on Bourbon Street near its intersection with Canal. According to an NOPD spokesperson, officers found three victims, two woman and a man, at the scene. One of the women died there. EMS took the other woman and the man to a hospital. There conditions have not been disclosed. A few minutes later, police learned of the fourth victim, another woman, who had escaped to the corner of St. Charles and Canal Street. Police say that woman was treated at a hospital for a graze wound.
According to New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, who spoke with the media early this morning, the deceased is a 33-year-old woman from Chicago who was walking along Bourbon Street with a sibling, who was also wounded.
Kirkpatrick said surveillance cameras captured the shooting and the events leading up to it. The chief said the shooting stemmed from a fight that escalated.
Kirkpatrick pinned part of the blame on the shooting on the state's "constitutional carry" law, which allow people to carry concealed weapons without having a license, a law that Kirkpatrick previously said limits NOPD officers' ability to stop criminals in the French Quarter before they act.
"We recognize the legality of being able to carry a gun, but when you mix it with people who are drinking, then we have a high-risk situation," Kirkpatrick said. "Please leave your guns at home. If you know of people who are carrying illegally, please report it through Crimestoppers. Don't let it escalate. Help. Be a Partner to us."
These homicides are the city's third and fourth of the weekend. They come as President Donald Trump continues to weigh sending National Guard troops into New Orleans to combat crime in the city, an idea that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and other Republican state leaders support. Even with these three latest homicides, the Metropolitan Crime Commission's crime tracker shows that the city's homicide and overall crime rates are both down from this time last year.
If anyone has any information about any of these homicides, call the NOPD at 504-658-5300 or call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
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