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'Everybody was running:' Witnesses recall panic in Canal Street shootout

The people panicked from here all the way to bourbon...they was panicking because they thought people was still coming to shoot," one witness said.

NEW ORLEANS — People who frequent the busy bus stop where five bystanders were shot Sunday night say the chaos they saw has made them fear returning. 

"All of a sudden I heard gunshots, 'pow, pow, pow, pow, pow!" One witness said. "I couldn't run like everybody else. Everybody was running."

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Disabled and in a scooter, one man said he will never forget the fear and panic of the Sunday night shootout between police officers and an armed robbery suspect who was killed.

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"I got to here and I jumped out of my scooter and got under here and all I said is 'Father, I know you got me," the man said. "I say 'God, I know you got me."

He said everyone was running towards the Mississippi River, thinking gunmen were going to run after the crowd. He was unable to move, however.

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"Scared? I passed out, I passed out it was too much shooting,  too much gun, gun violence," he said.

A woman who uses this bus stop often so she can go do volunteer work for a non-profit group also told Eyewitness News she has questions.

"I don't feel like they should have did the transaction that they did  here at a busy bus stop," she said. 

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"I mean, a crime is a crime and he did commit a crime but was it that serious to put other people's safety in jeopardy?" she asked. 

LSU Health's Dr. John Hunt is the Chief of the University Medical Center level one Trauma Center. He said from the bus stop shooting incident and others over the weekend, his medical team had to be activated 51 times.

"It was a busy weekend," Hunt said. "We were close to two-fold what we would normally see in a weekend."

RELATED: 7 dead in violent weekend across New Orleans metro area

The woman who works for the non-profit did not want to be identified, but said she almost didn't use her normal bus route today out of fear.

"It's very, very, very scary. I was skeptical about coming here today actually. I missed my bus because I was afraid to come," she said.

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The man in the scooter, however, said there can be gunfire anywhere, no matter what the route is.

"It's not the bus line, it's not the people who get the bus, it's the people who doing that deamonizing stuff, that's all," he said. 

Three of the five shooting victims from last night's shootout have been treated and sent home, officials said. Two underwent surgery and remain at the UMC. 

RELATED: Suspect killed in Canal St. shootout was member of Houston-area gang

The suspected shooter who was shot and killed by responding NOPD and LSP officers was identified as 32-year-old Reginald Bursey, who sources said was wanted in Texas on unrelated crimes. 

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