Two shootings within an hour of each other rocked the Lower Garden District Thursday morning and left one man critically injured and a daycare center in lockdown.

Both shootings are connected to a Saturday shooting on Felicity Street, officers said.

On Thursday, the first shooting happened minutes before 8 a.m. at the intersection of Annunciation Street and Market Place.  Police said two suspects fired into a black SUV, hitting a 36-year-old man several times.

The truck eventually ran into a utility pole, knocking it down. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical condition as of 4 p.m.

Nearly an hour later, as officers searched for two gunmen in connection with the first shooting, shots rang out from another SUV heading down Felicity Street several blocks away.

“It’s a situation that occurred that we have to deal with,” NOPD Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said. “Certainly, you have individuals that are very brazen individuals who have total disregard for not only neighbors and residents, but also police.”

Officers responding to the original shooting didn’t catch either suspect and closed off an area of several city blocks.

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Ausbie Taylor

When the shooting happened, an NOPD officer was a block away and responded. Officers have identified Ausbie Taylor as one of the shooters and have obtained a warrant for attempted murder.

While investigating the earlier shooting, an officer watched as more shots were fired in the neighborhood, this time coming from several men riding in another SUV. The officer returned fire and officers began their second chase in an hour.

“He fired one round at that vehicle, but the vehicle continued to flee,” NOPD spokewoman Jonette Williams said. “The officers put a description of that vehicle out over the police radio and they were able to apprehend that vehicle as well as its four occupants.”

Wellington Grant was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, illegal discharge of a firearm and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in connection with Thursday morning’s second shooting.

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Brian Cook

Officers believe Grant had attempted to shoot at someone thought to be involved in the 8 a.m. shooting.

Officials put the Kingsley House on lockdown. The daycare center is located only a block from where the first shooting happened. Nearly 200 children attend pre-kindergarten and kindergarten at the facility.

“Some of our staff were coming in and our participants were coming, driving right behind the building on Annunciation where it happened,” said Keith Leiderman, the executive director at the Kingsley House. “So they completed the drive around to the front of the facility and alerted us to what was happening.”

NOPD believes Thursday’s multiple shootings are connected to Saturday’s incident where a man was shot several times. Officers identified Brian “Bean” Cook as the shooter and an arrest warrant for attempted murder has been issued.

Eyewitness News reporter Katie Moore contributed to this report.