4 wounded in shooting during Mardi Gras revelry

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Investigators worked early Monday to find suspects in a weekend shooting that wounded four on Bourbon Street during the countdown to Mardi Gras, while many revelers went on with their partying despite the violence.

In a video taken by a witness Saturday night and released the next day, the shootings are preceded by footage of people standing shoulder to shoulder in New Orleans' famed tourist district, with some holding green plastic cups and wearing gaudy hats or masks. A section of the frame highlighted by police shows people jostling and speaking with angry expressions.

Police said in an email that the video depicts an argument involving one of the shooting victims and the suspects. Two men are seen leaving the argument and returning with a third, then approaching the victim as at least one of the suspects begins shooting, according to police. Four shots are heard in rapid succession, followed by screams as some in the crowd stagger into one another and a nearby wall. A man whom police identified as one of the suspects is shown walking through the crowd with his arm extended as the gunshots are heard, though it's difficult to make out a weapon.

Police said Sunday they were seeking the three men and that they have identified one suspect, but did not release the name.

The shootings wounded two men and two women, three of whom were treated and released Sunday. One man hit in the abdomen, thigh and pelvis was in stable condition Sunday after surgery the previous night, New Orleans Police spokesman Hilal Williams said.

Of those treated and released, a man was shot in the buttocks, one woman was shot on the chin and right foot, and the second woman was shot on the toe, police said. No ages or names were released.

The shooting came on the last weekend of partying before Mardi Gras, the Fat Tuesday celebration that is the signature tourist event of the year in New Orleans. And for thousands, the partying continued despite the shooting. Parades rolled under cloudy skies Sunday before crowds of onlookers, though the shootings were on the minds of some revelers.

Some who were on Bourbon when the shooting occurred came back Sunday. Hours after the shooting, there was little evidence that violence had occurred. Revelers were in full party mode, packing the block amid a heavy police presence.

"We're not worried," said Raymond Reginato of Toronto, Canada, who was in New Orleans with friends for a bachelor party this weekend. "Everybody's in a good mood. I really believe that was an isolated incident."

Jackie Counte Cooley of Gainesville, Ga., said the shooting was enough to deter her from Bourbon Street, though she was among the revelers packed nearby along Canal Street taking in Sunday's parades.

"It's my first Mardi Gras, and I'm having a good time, but I won't be going to Bourbon street," she said.

New Orleans has been plagued for years by violent crime, including gun violence that has soared since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.

In 2011, sixteen people were shot and at least two killed in Halloween shootings in New Orleans. One of the victims was slain near the Chris Owens nightclub, about a block away from Saturday's incident.

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Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-wounded-shooting-during-mardi-gras-revelry-093415018.html

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