Two people were killed and 10 others were wounded in two separate shootings Sunday along a New Orleans parade route and a celebration attended by thousands of people, authorities said. No immediate arrests were made.
According to a news release from the New Orleans Police Department, officers responding to a report of shots fired just after 3:30 p.m. on an avenue in the city's St. Roch neighborhood found eight victims suffering from gunshot wounds. All eight were taken to hospitals in unknown condition. Police later said that a ninth injured person was taken to the hospital in a private car.
CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV reports According to investigators, ballistics showed that two shooters were involved.
About 45 minutes later, police received another report of shots fired as revelers were crossing the Almonaster Avenue Bridge, half a mile (.8 km) to the north. Police said one person died at the scene and the other died in hospital. The third victim was taken to hospital in a private vehicle and is in stable condition, police said.
No arrests were announced and no suspect information was released.
The St. Roch neighborhood is 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 Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said detectives did not immediately know whether the incidents were related.
“They … were taking different approaches,” he said of the shooting, which occurred in an area where a “second line” celebration was taking place after the parade.
Thousands of people gathered in the 9th Ward for the Nine Times Social Aid and Pleasure Club's annual walk, organizer Oscar Brown told NOLA.com.
“It's an amazing event and we want to keep it an amazing event,” Kirkpatrick said.
This was the second major shooting in the South since Shooting disrupts homecoming weekend at Tuskegee University One person was killed and 16 others were injured by gunfire in Alabama on Nov. 10, a dozen of them wounded, authorities said.