NOPD Not Discouraged By Mardi Gras Shootings

A series of Mardi Gras day shootings in New Orleans left three day and five injured. None of the shootings occurred on an active parade route. New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison says the shootings shouldn’t mar an otherwise positive carnival season.

“We will not tolerate what happened with yesterday’s violence. It will not define us, discourage us, or slow us down. In fact it makes us pursue violent criminals with greater intensity.”

One of the shootings getting the most attention occurred on St. Charles Avenue after two men got caught up in an altercation. Harrison says it’s the kind of incident that could happen at any time of the year.

“I think this was a great Mardi Gras, the incident on St. Charles could have happened anywhere, it’s just so unfortunate that it happened where families were gathering.”

Harrison says despite Tuesday’s shootings, there’s been a decrease in violence in the city thanks to increased police efforts.

“We sent out a strong message, don’t bring guns to parades, don’t bring guns to where you drink, it’s a bad combination. We put that message out constantly and made sure our officers were out there enforcing it, and we did that.”