Four people shot, one critically injured at New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration

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Published time: February 10, 2013 05:58
Edited time: May 13, 2013 14:39

Police officers at the scene of the shooting on Bourbon Street, New Orleans. (Image from Twitter/@MHernandezWWL)

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Arms, Police, Shooting, USA, Violence

Four people have been shot during Mardi Gras celebrations in the US city of New Orleans, according to police. One male is critically injured and undergoing surgery.

The victim who appears to have been the intended target was shot three times – once in the abdomen, thigh and pelvic area.

The three other victims – one man and two women – are suffering from non life-threatening graze wounds.

The shooting took place on the crowded Bourbon Street around 9:30pm local time as the French Quarter was packed with tourists and locals taking part in the festivities.

"Everyone immediately started running and the cops immediately started running towards where people were running from," 21-year-old Patrick Clay, who was near the scene, told the Times-Picayune.

"I was with a group of about seven people and at that point we all just kind of grasped hands and made our way through the crowd as soon as possible. We were pretty scared, but at that point, I was just more worried about taking care of my friends," he said.

The incident occurred outside of a strip club. New Orleans' WWL-TV reported that police had obtained surveillance video from a nearby establishment as part of the investigation, which shows an argument between one man and two others. The New Orleans Police Department says after the two men left the scene, one of them returned with another man and shots were fired.

Police are currently looking for three male suspects.

Robertson said police believe they know the motive behind the shooting, but do not want to release the information at this time.

New Orleans Mardi Gras is an annual two-week-long festival that takes place throughout the city sometime between the end of January and the beginning of March. Hundreds of thousands of tourists arrive in the city from the US and abroad to watch spectacular parades and to party on Bourbon Street, known for its drinking establishments.

Image from Twitter/@MHernandezWWL

Crowded Bourbon Street during New Orleans Mardi Gras 2013. Image from Twitter/@MHernandezWWL

Comments (9)

SuperiorEuropean (unregistered) 12.02.2013 00:50

...and just another normal day in the usa!

Meanwhil e, across the Atlantic, over in countries where one cannot hear oneself over the sound of free healthcare and the lack of school shootings, another day dawns in a land that will never see the unnecessary digging up of perfectly good roads nor the sight of war veterans starving in the gutter...

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Jamal Suspook (unregistered) 11.02.2013 19:09

Blacks Are Only 13% Of The Population, Yet Are Responsible For 51% Of All Homicides Occurring In The United States. – Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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Ray Hagins (unregistered) 11.02.2013 18:42

The lower Mississippi river area of Louisiana, Mississi ppi and south-eastern Arkansas has the highest percentage of Negroes in the U.S. along with the lowest income and IQ levels and highest rates of violent crime. Of course this, like AIDS and the extinction of the dinosaurs, is the white man’s fault.

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