NEW ORLEANS — A 17-year-old student just weeks from graduating from Eleanor McCMain Secondary School was one of five people killed in separate shootings in New Orleans on Thursday night.
Zerrick Lebeau Jr. was fatally shot just before 7 p.m. on a sidewalk outside of an Anytime Fitness in the 1800 block of Rousseau Street. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
New Orleans police have not released any additional details about the shooting, only confirming the victim's age.
Dr. Ashonta Wyatt, an educator and social justice advocate, knew lebeau.
“He was very gifted in math and science, and he was very quick with it, with the jokes," she said.
Lebeau was a former student of hers. She was shocked to learn that he'd been killed.
"Children being murdered at the hands of other children — that should tell us that we are in a crisis. And we are not reacting as if we are in a crisis," Wyatt said. "Anytime a child dies its time to rethink the way we are attacking crime, rethink the way were policing communities, rethink the resources that are available to the people of our community."
On Friday, InspireNOLA Charter Schools issued a statement confirming that a McMain student was killed due to gun violence, though the statement did not include Lebeau's name.
"Yesterday, our Eleanor McMain and InspireNOLA family lost a senior scholar to gun violence in our New Orleans community who was scheduled to graduate in 12 school days. We as a family, are tired of this senseless violence that plagues our youth. We must all work together to bring solutions to the problem of violence. Our students, staff members, and parents are hurting today and we ask for your prayers.
"InspireNOLA continues our commitment to working with our students and families through the grieving process and we have mental health professionals in place to support the students at McMain.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our recent scholar lost and all the families touched by violence in our communities."
Five people were killed in separate shootings across New Orleans on Thursday night. The shooting that killed Lebeau was the first fatal shooting reported around 7 p.m. An hour later, a man and an teenager were shot in the Lower Ninth Ward and both later died. A third teenager was killed in a shooting around 10:30 p.m. on Lawrence Road in New Orleans East. And lastly, one person died and two others were wounded in a shooting near Louisa and North Robertson streets.
NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork issued a statement on Friday addressing the violent night.
“Last night, within a five-hour span, there were four shootings in our city, leaving five dead and families that are a part of our community grieving. Two of the victims were juveniles. These senseless acts of violence are disheartening and will not be tolerated, Woodfork said. "They threaten our public safety and affect everyone in our community, including our officers responding to and investigating these crimes. NOPD Homicide detectives are working aggressively to identify the persons responsible for these offenses and to establish motives.
“We are asking the community to join us in this effort by providing any information that can assist in the quick apprehension of the individuals responsible.”
Anyone with information about any of these shootings is asked to call the New Orleans Police Department at 504-658-5300 or Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111.
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