2015 holiday season off to a bloody start
7th December 2015 · 0 Comments
The Thanksgiving weekend, the kickoff of the annual holiday season culminating with Christmas, was marred this year by a series of shootings in the CBD that left several people dead and hundreds of others scrambling for safety. Not even the presence of NOPD officers and state troopers deployed to keep visitors to the city safe for the annual Bayou Classici and holiday season kickoff could prevent a series of shootings that included an incident on Bourbon Street and another on Canal Street.
Early police reports said a man was killed on Bourbon Street early Saturday morning, Nov. 28, after allegedly bumping into another man.
Investigators are reportedly looking for two suspects in connection with the fatal shooting which took place about 1:30 a.m. in the 300 block of Bourbon Street during the Bayou Classic weekend.
According to police,the victim was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
WWL reported that surveillance video shows a fist fight outside Prohibition Bar & Balcony. One suspect can be seen punching Robinson before a second suspect opens fire, hitting 26-year-old Brandon Robinson.
Robinson, a Prohibition Bar & Balcony employee, had just celebrated the birth of his daughter four days earlier.
Police are looking for assistance identifying both suspects and anyone else who may be involved in the incident.
Police reported that five people were shot with two of them dying over a 10-hour span Monday.
A 19-year-old man was shot to death at about 3:30 p.m. in the 400 block of North Rocheblave Street near the Lafitte Greenway.
About 5:40 p.m. Monday, gunfire erupted at the intersection of Canal St. and Rampart, sending a man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest, from which he died a short time later.
WWL reported that the intersection where the murder occurred was also the site of at least four other shootings — fatal and non-fatal — over the past 18 months.
The 19-year-old victim, whose name was not immediately released, died a little after 6 p.m., according to police.
Police had an officer stationed nearby, NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison said. Despite that, someone walked up to the victim and fired at least one round before fleeing.
Witnesses reported hearing at least four gunshots.
“We’re making sure we have ample police protection … our officer was one block away at the Joy Theater,” Harrison told WWL. “Our officer ran toward this gunfire and got here within a minute.”
Sources initially said that police were looking for two people in connection with the shooting. Harrison said that “at least” one gunman was being sought but did not rule out the possibility that there might be another on the loose.
The carnage showed no sign ofo slowing down Monday night as police were dispatched to Algiers shortly before midnight to investigate a double shooting at the intersection of General Meyer Avenue and Horace Street.
The two victims, both males, were shot while sitting inside a car. One of the men was shot in the head and the other was shot in the torso, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.
This article originally published in the December 7, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
