An overnight shooting in New Orleans left two people dead and four more wounded, police reported.
All of the victims were teenagers, with no suspect in custody, according to local authorities, who responded to the incident at the 2000 block of St. Maurice Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood.
The shooting occurred around 12:30 a.m. Monday, with emergency medical personnel pronouncing a 19-year-old male and 19-year-old female dead on the scene. Two 18-year-old males were taken to a local hospital by ambulance, while two others teenagers were transported in a private vehicle.
🚨BREAKING NEWS UPDATE🚨
2 dead, 4 injured after shooting in Lower 9th Ward
We now know the two victims dead at the scene were both 19-years-old, a male and a female. The injured victims are two 18-year-old males, one 18-year-old female and one 17-year-old female. @WWLTV pic.twitter.com/LwzYbZgZJK— Leigha McNeil WWL-TV (@leigha_mcneil) December 26, 2022
The identities of the victims have not yet been released as family members were still being notified. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office will release the identity of the victims and determine their exact causes of death, according to Nola.com. Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the New Orleans Police Department.
The shooting deaths follow the murder of a New Orleans comedian on Friday. Brandon “Boogie B” Montrell was fatally shot multiple times in his vehicle on Friday afternoon.
According to Fox 8, New Orleans police did not believe Montrell was the intended victim, with two unidentified shooters fleeing in a sedan.
Montrell was also a social media influencer known for his “Hood History” series of videos that added a humorous twist to historic locations and events in his home city.
The comedian had been living in California and recently returned to Sidell near New Orleans for the Christmas holiday, according to a family member, the outlet reported.
“My son was not just the victim of a stray bullet,” Montrell’s mother Sherilyn Price said Saturday in a statement released by family attorney Juan LaFonta.
“He’s the victim of decades of neglect that have left New Orleans’ youth with no hope for a future and with no real fear of consequences. It’s past time for leaders in our city and all over to do their jobs. It matters who the president is, who the governor is, and who the mayor is. Leaders create opportunities – including the opportunity to live in peace without fear of random violence,” she added
New Orleans continues to face concerns about violent crime and homicides. According to a Rochester Insitute of Technology study, the city most-recently ranked as the second most dangerous city in the nation.
The Daily Wire also reported that New Orleans, plagued by low police staffing levels and morale, saw 41 murders per 100,000 people in the first six months of the year, a 141% increase over 2019, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. The murder rate is nearly four times that of Chicago and nearly 20 times the rate in New York City.
“The criminals are more bolder and more brazen,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told the newspaper. “They do not believe they will face any consequences for their actions.”