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'Chaotic' and 'concerning'- residents react to fatal CBD shooting

"So, I guess it's my first, real exposure to living here"

NEW ORLEANS - People are questioning what led up to the shooting of a man in the Central Business District. For several hours, multiple streets in the CBD were blocked off as police searched for the suspects involved.

There was a lot of activity in the CBD Tuesday as police were on the hunt for a trio of shooting suspects.

"It just seems like it's chaos right now," said Anna Thomas, a student at a nearby college.

"I guess, I don't have words," said Desmond Johnnie, a resident in the area.

Crime tape spanned several blocks around the 900 block of Gravier. Officers though quickly focused on a nearby parking garage, after learning one of the suspects ran in.

"We worked with parking garage management to look at surveillance video and saw he was in the garage on one of the floors," said Eighth District Commander Nicholas Gernon. "Two fled south on Gravier Street and made their escape."

It began around 2 p.m., when police say shots fired inside a car hit one man in the head. The vehicle crashed near a building which is when three others inside, jumped out and took off.

"We called in the SWAT team along with the K9 unit," Gernon said. "Special operations team arrived on-scene, conducted a systematic search of the building in order to locate the suspect who ran in the garage."

"It seems like three or four streets are blocked off," said Thomas. "I don't know how people are getting where they're supposed to go."

A populated area, cars and people were re-routed. Many though stopped to take a second to look at what was happening.

"So, I guess it's my first, real exposure to living here," said Michelle Kendall, who moved to New Orleans Saturday."It's not welcoming, but it is enlightening to the true issues that exist."

"It's a little concerning considering it's in the CBD in the middle of the day," said Johnnie. "It's out of character, not necessarily for the city but for the area for sure. It's starting to spread out to different areas that you wouldn't expect it to happen in. It's a little alarming."

As the search for the suspects continues, people are now thinking about the victim, calling what happened in the CBD unfortunate.

"Sad definitely," said Kendall. "I can't imagine my heart goes out to him and his family. I'm sure it's just heartbreaking."

According to our partners at the New Orleans Advocate, the person shot and killed was a 35-year-old man. No known motive or suspects' descriptions have been released at this time. If you have any information you can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, at 822-1111.

Jade Cunningham can be reached at jcunningham@wwltv.com.

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