Homicides in N.O. up 18 percent in 2018
5th March 2018 · 0 Comments
As police continued to search late last month for the suspect in a high-profile shooting on Mardi Gras day, the department acknowledged that there has been an uptick in homicides over the first two months of 2018, thanks in part to a bloody end to this year’s Carnival season that saw major shootings in the Garden District and the Lower 9th Ward.
The NOPD said early last week that it believes Jerald Bordere, 18, pulled the trigger in the double shooting that happened Mardi Gras Day on the parade route near Union and St. Charles. Around 3:15 that afternoon, a fight broke out and two people were shot, one in the head and one in the leg. Late last month, officers arrested another suspect, Kentrell Howard, 17. He now faces two counts of principle to attempted murder. But, police said last Monday that Bordere and a third suspect remained at large.
“It is our understanding there may be individuals who have helped him flee New Orleans possibly to the Texas area or are helping him flee New Orleans, so we would urge those individuals as well as himself to turn himself in,” said NOPD 8th District Commander, Nicholas Gernon.
There were three separate shootings on Mardi Gras, another on the parade route at Second and St. Charles that killed a man. And in a third, five people were shot in the Lower 9th Ward, two of which died.
“Well, certainly there’s an issue with guns and I think that’s really where the major problem occurs. If these rates continue we will have the highest homicide rate since what, 2011 where we had almost 200 homicides, so this will be over 200 if we stay at the current rate,” said Dillard University criminologist Dr. Ashraf Esmail, Ph.D.
NOPD officials say murders are up in the city nearly 18 percent. There’s been 39 homicides to date this year compared to 33 during the same time frame last year. The NOPD believes a significant portion of the shootings they’ve seen since Mardi Gras week are linked to gang activity and retaliation.
“The key word you just mentioned, retaliation, we seem to be in a time where we retaliate very harshly to situations,” Dr. Esmail told FOX 8 News. “You look at some of these things and you read about them and you’re wondering ‘Well how did that end up in a homicide?’ It doesn’t make any sense.”
As for the Mardi Gras shooting near Union and St. Charles, police say one person remains in the hospital.
“The victim that was struck in the head is still unconscious, we have not been able to talk to him, he’s still in ICU,” said Gernon.
While homicides are up, the NOPD says non-fatal shootings are down by 40 percent and armed robberies have decreased by 51 percent.
Three additional suspects were taken into custody last Tuesday for the shooting that unfolded along the parade route on Mardi Gras Day. Two brothers, 18-year-old Jerald and 20-year-old Christopher Bordere, along with their mother, Tahitian Bordere, are all in custody. The three were busted inside a St. Bernard Parish hotel room.
“We really want to thank St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office for their swift action. They received information from their community and they immediately acted,” says NOPD Commander Nick Gernon.
Gernon told FOX 8 News that he believes Jerald Bordere pulled the trigger in the double shooting near Union Street and St. Charles Avenue. Police say it started when a fight broke out among 10 individuals. Two people were shot, one in the leg and the other in the head.
“Yesterday, he was still unconscious in ICU. He’s still in that manner. We haven’t been able to speak with him because of his injuries,” says Gernon.
However, police did say that surveillance pictures of the suspects running from the scene helped them to identify those involved.
“So, if you commit a crime down here in the Eighth District, you should know that you will likely be identified via surveillance video being put out,” says Gernon.
The NOPD believes both brothers were on the scene of the shooting Mardi Gras Day. They say their mother was harboring her sons.
“They were able to obtain a search warrant for the hotel they were staying in. Within that hotel room, they found two handguns, one of which was reported stolen from Jefferson Parish,” says Gernon.
All three suspects are booked with possession of a stolen firearm. Jerald Bordere is booked with attempted second-degree murder, while his brother and mother are facing charges of accessory after the fact to attempted second-degree murder in St. Bernard Parish.
This article originally published in the March 5, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
