NEW ORLEANS — Two kids were shot Sunday night in New Orleans East. The 10-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy were inside a home on Curran Road in Little Woods when shots were fired around 9PM, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
The two juveniles were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
This shooting adds to an alarming number from the Metropolitan Crime Commission. President Rafael Goyeneche said MCC data shows a 49 percent increase in juvenile-involved shootings citywide compared to last year.
Goyeneche said that the number is based on the reported age of victims.
“While we don’t know the age of the shooters, history would suggest that the shooters that are targeting juveniles are in fact juveniles themselves," Goyeneche said.
Police have not said if the children involved in Sunday night's shooting were targeted, or if the shooting was accidental. Meanwhile, MCC data shows homicides in the 7th District are down 41 percent compared to 2022.
Barry Rousseve has lived in the Little Woods neighborhood for 42 years. Sunday night's shooting took place one street over.
“The last eight to 10 years back in here, the neighborhood has gotten out of control with the gun violence, the shooting, the crimes, and it’s no way to live. Something needs to be done," Rousseve said.
About a half mile from where the shooting occurred, a NORD playground sat empty on Monday.
“The kids don’t even go in that ballpark no more like they used to to play ball because I guess the parents are keeping them away from there you know," Rousseve said.
City Councilmember Oliver Thomas represents the area.
“How can we have a next generation if the next generation continues to get shot down in the street?" Thomas said.
Dr. Peter Scharf, a professor of medicine at LSU Health, said we need a strategy to control the juvenile gun violence that includes better juvenile care, facilities and treatment models.
“You’ve got to change thinking, and making, packing guns, and using guns against other kids a bad deal," Scharf said, “If you can change their thinking, we have a chance. If you can’t change their thinking, we have no chance.”
Police did not disclose any suspect information in Sunday night's shooting.
If you have any information, you're urged to call the 7th District detectives or Crimestoppers.