New Orleans police investigate fatal shootings at parade

The New Orleans Police Department confirmed on Sunday that officers were investigating two shootings that disrupted a parade and resulted in two deaths. The shootings took place less than an hour apart on Sunday afternoon. The shooters involved killed two people and wounded 10, the department said. The parade was put on by a community group from the city’s Ninth Ward.

What happened? At around 3:40 p.m. police responded to reports of gunshots at a location along the parade’s route. Officers found eight gunshot victims. Emergency services transported all of them to the hospital. Another victim showed up at the hospital later, having arrived via private transportation, police said.

Only about 45 minutes later officers responded to another report of gunshots at another location on the parade’s route. Officers pronounced one victim deceased at the scene and another died on the way to the hospital, the police said. Another victim injured in the shooting headed to the hospital via private transportation and on Sunday was in stable condition.

Following the shootings, police shut down the parade. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s office will be conducting the autopsies on the deceased victims, police said. The investigation is still in its early stages but detectives are working diligently to identify the individuals responsible, the department added.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report in The Sift about a recent shooting at Tuskegee University.