Gun Battle At New Orleans Park Has Police, Mayor Baffled

Police are trying to figure out what sparked a gun battle in a New Orleans park that left 16 people wounded. They said that little information had been provided yet by the “hundreds of witnesses” who were in the park, as Harrison put, and he pleaded for cell phone video of the event.

At least 500 people were gathered for the filming of a music video at Bunny Friend Park when shots rang out from at least 3 gunmen.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said late Sunday in comments aired by WWL-TV that people need to come forward with information so that police can do their job.

The police is accepting that the witnesses will cooperate with them to identify the culprits so that justice can be brought to the people who are suffering because of this incident. Officers, who were already en route to break up the crowd, heard the gunfire and quickly responded to the scene.

The New Orleans Police Department, joined by Landrieu and other city officials, spoke to the public to provide an update on the investigation of a mass shooting.

Damien Gaines said he, his two sons, ages 10 and 13, and their 10-year-old cousin had just come home from an athletic awards ceremony.

The shooting’s aftermath was “chaotic”, The Times-Picayune reported, with several people lying around the park’s main building and hats and possessions scattered around the playground. “We’re not going to stand for it. We’ll never stand for it”, Harrison said. They said New Orleans in 2014 had its lowest murder rate in over a decade, with 39.6 victims per 100,000 people.

Speaking of the hospital, Jordan said: “It’s still crowded back there”.

“This brazen act of violence, I think is akin to domestic terrorism”, Landrieu said.

Detectives are searching for surveillance video of the shooting and suspects. Harrison questioned how two groups of people could open fire on each other – with what appears to be automatic weapons, judging from the shell casings – with hundreds of people in between them.