NEW ORLEANS — What had been a relatively calm week for crime in New Orleans picked up in a disturbingly violent way over the weekend with NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson saying that there were 3 people dead in 4 shooting incidents that left 18 victims in all.
Ferguson also said officers took three weapons – A Glock and two 9 mm weapons off of people on Bourbon Street Sunday morning and that all three of those people there were from out of town – one from Shreveport, one from Alabama and one from Houma.
In addition, Ferguson said that three children were injured in separate shooting incidents where young people got a hold of unsecured weapons and either accidentally shot themselves or others. He said a 7-year-old, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old were hurt by the guns. In two of the cases he said the children were shot by other children playing with the gun, while the 2-year-old was a self-inflicted wound.
He said that the Child Abuse group is investigating the three shootings.
“This has been a very frustrating weekend for us all,” said Ferguson. “As many as four mass shootings in the past week.” Ferguson defined a “mass shooting,” as a single incident where four or more people were injured.
Ferguson said that the past week saw 285 crimes whereas a normal week there are usually between 320 and 360, but he said the fairly positive week was marred by the weekend violence.
It was the second weekend in a row that five people have been shot in a single incident on Bourbon Street.