1 person killed in New Orleans shooting along Mardi Gras parade route, police say
Five people were shot at a Mardi Gras parade Sunday night and one died, New Orleans police said. One person was detained at the scene in connection with the gunfire.
Authorities identified the suspect as 21-year-old Mansour Mbodj during a news conference on Monday. Interim New Orleans Police Chief Michelle Woodfork said officers apprehended Mbodj "within moments" of the shooting, which occurred shortly before 9:30 p.m. the previous night.
Police said the shooting happened along the route of the Krewe of Bacchus parade.
They said officers on patrol at the parade heard shots ring out and found five victims when they got to the scene — one a child, police said.
None of the individuals hit by gunfire have been identified by name. Authorities said that emergency medical services personnel responded quickly to the shooting, and all five people were transported to a nearby hospital. Four of them suffered injuries, and had been released from the hospital by Monday following treatment, Woodfork said. The injured were identified as a 4-year-old girl, an 18-year-old man, a 22-year-old woman and a 24-year-old woman, according to the police chief.
A fifth person, who police have not yet identified, was fatally shot. The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital, Woodfork said, adding that authorities believe the deceased male was between 15 and 18 years old.
The suspect was arrested for illegal carrying of a weapon, said Woodfork, who provided few details as a probe into the incident is ongoing. Illegal carrying of weapons can apply to intentional concealment of a dangerous weapon, including a firearm, or concealed carrying of a firearm without required permits under Louisiana state laws. Woodfork said that officers confiscated two weapons from the scene. A homicide unit is also involved in the investigation, the interim police chief said.
"We can't say who fired a weapon or who was involved in the shooting at this time, but we are definitely investigating what happened last night," Woodfork told reporters at the news conference on Monday, adding that results of a bullet analysis still underway will provide more information about "which guns were fired."
"This is an isolated incident that occurred near the parade route because someone decided that they were going to ... that the resolution was going to be ended with gunfire," said the interim chief. "You know, a problem that they had with someone else, it was going to be ended with gunfire."
NOPD Chief Deputy Superintendent Hans Ganthier told CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV on Sunday night that officers "were quickly able to apprehend the suspect we believe responsible for this" and that two guns were recovered.
"This is really not something we wanted to see," said Ganthier. "We really wanted this to be a safe Mardi Gras."
The parade was temporarily held up but then allowed to continue, WWL reported. On Monday, Woodfork said law enforcement officers across multiple New Orleans districts have been working since Mardi Gras celebrations began to confiscate weapons along parade routes. Officers have recovered 112 guns found in and around neighborhoods where parades and other festivities have taken place this year.
"We're serious about making this event truly safe," said the police chief.
An eyewitness told WWL there were at least a dozen shots and people were falling all over themselves trying to get out of the way, leaving everything they had behind them.
The eyewitness said there were several skirmishes that officers broke up before the shooting in the vicinity of where the gunfire happened.
Journalist Jonah Gilmore spoke to another eyewitness:
Twitter user @SoThatHappnd posted video of the aftermath:
New Orleans police say they were assisted at the scene by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department, Louisiana State Police and the Department of Corrections
