Mother's Day Parade Shooting: At Least 12 Shot During New Orleans Festivities

At least 17 people were reportedly wounded during a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans on Sunday. Among the victims was reportedly a 10-year-old girl who was grazed by one of the bullets.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayne:

While [New Orleans Police Department Superintendant Ron] Serpas said there were about 300 to 400 people in the Mother's Day [parade], there were about 200 people in the area of the shooting. He said that about 10 NOPD officers were spread out throughout the second line and that three people were seen running from the shooting scene. Serpas said that the three suspects likely worked together and that at least two different weapons were used. One of the suspects is described as a man between 18 years old and 22 years old with short hair and a white shirt with blue jeans, Serpas said.

Nine people were taken to the area's University Hospital, eight of them having sustained gunshot wounds, according to WWLTV. Three are said to be critical condition, while no fatalities have been reported in the shooting's immediate aftermath, per the Times-Picayune.

More from the Associated Press:

NEW ORLEANS ? Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day second-line parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17 people, police said.

Police spokeswoman Remi Braden said in an email that many of the 17 victims were grazed and most of the wounds weren't life-threatening. No deaths were reported.

Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told reporters that a 10-year-old girl was grazed in the shooting around 2 p.m. She was in good condition. He said three or four people were in surgery, but he didn't have their conditions.

Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events. As many as 400 people joined in the procession that stretched for about 3 blocks, though only half that many were in the immediate vicinity of the shooting, Serpas said.

Police saw three suspects running from the scene in the city's 7th Ward neighborhood. No arrests had been made as of late afternoon.

Second-line parades are loose processions 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.

A social club called The Original Big 7 organized Sunday's event. The group was founded in 1996 at the Saint Bernard housing projects, according to its MySpace page.

The neighborhood where the shooting happened was a mix of low-income and middle-class row houses, some boarded up. As of last year, the neighborhood's population was about 60 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level.

Police vowed to make swift arrests.

"We'll get them. We have good resources in this neighborhood," Serpas said.

___

AP Radio reporter Jackie Quinn in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/12/mothers-day-parade-shooting-new-orleans_n_3263539.html

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