5 shot on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street; 2 detained

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Police say five people were shot on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, marring what had been a festive celebration on the weekend of the Bayou Classic football game.

New Orleans Police said the gunfire broke out around 1:49 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of Bourbon Street. Police said an argument took place before an unknown male suspect “produced a gun and began firing into the crowd, striking multiple victims.”

Police said the victims included three males and two females but did not disclose their ages, WVUE reports. NOPD spokesman Gary Scheets said none of the victims’ injuries are considered life-threatening.

Two people have been detained for questioning in relation to the shooting, police said. Weapons were taken from both of them.

NOPD Supt. Shaun Ferguson was among the officers who responded to the scene on a weekend when tens of thousands of additional visitors are in town for the annual Bayou Classic football game between Grambling State and Southern University.

Sunday’s incident was New Orleans’ third mass shooting on Bayou Classic weekend in the past six years.

The shooting was also the second in the area in the span of five hours.

Police are also investigating the shooting of an 18-year-old man reported at 8:42 p.m. Saturday. That victim was shot multiple times in the 700 block of Canal Street, near the intersection with St. Charles Avenue. He died at the hospital.

Responding officers were able to apprehend a 15-year-old boy suspected in his killing. Neither the victim’s nor the suspect’s identities have been disclosed.

Police have not said whether the two shootings are related.

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