Police spokesman Remi
Braden said in an email that many of the 17 victims were grazed by bullets and
most of the wounds weren't life-threatening. No deaths were reported. Police
Superintendent Ronal Serpas said that a 10-year-old girl and boy were grazed by
bullets were among those wounded in the shooting. Both were in a good
condition. He said three or four people were in surgery,and reports said three
were in a critical condition. Mr Serpas said that the procession had been
accompanied by officers, who saw two or three suspects run from the scene.
The Times-Picayune
reports there were about 200 people at the event when gunfire erupted.
The newspaper also
reported that one of its reporters, who was participating in the parade, heard
six to seven shots being fired. Nobody has been arrested. It's unclear what
sparked the gunfire. "It's just a very tragic day for us," New
Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters after visiting some of the wounded
in hospital.
"We will find
them," he said. "It really is important in this town for people to
step forward now so that we can find people who do this and make sure that they
don't hurt innocent victims anymore."
"It is important
for us... to change the culture of death on the streets of New Orleans to a
culture of life."
Photographs of the
shooting aftermath in the Times-Picayune newspaper showed a man lying on his
stomach beside a pool of blood, being helped by two bystanders.
Other photos showed a
man in shorts sitting on a cobbled street, his calf bleeding and covered with a
bandana.
The violence occurred at
what's known as a second-line parade - a loose procession in which people dance
down the street, often following behind a brass band. They can be impromptu or
planned and are sometimes described as moving block parties.
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