Five dead in Memorial weekend shootings in N.O.
07:10 AM CDT on Monday, May 28, 2007
WWLTV.com

Five people were killed in New Orleans in a blood Memorial Day weekend.

Late Sunday night two men were killed in separate incidents. In the first, a 24-year-old man was found lying in the street in the 1200 block of Clouet. Police said he had been shot to death.

Across the Industrial Canal, police responded to a man shot and killed during an apparent botched drug deal.

Investigators said two men came to the 6400 block of North Villere in the Ninth Ward to buy crack when an unidentified man approached the car and shot one of the men following an argument. The car drove off and the driver called for help. The victim was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The two killings followed three others over the weekend.

A 19-year-old was shot to death Friday afternoon at 2:30 in the 2400 block of South Miro Street. On Saturday a 22-year-old man was shot to death in the 7900 block of Earhart and on Sunday afternoon an 18-year-old man was shot to death on North Dupre.

Police have yet to publicly identify any of the victims, pending family notification.

The string of crimes came on a weekend where victims of crime were remembered at a special mass at St. Louis Cathedral.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said the city is still struggling to get a handle on violent crime and he blamed the modern culture for part of the problem.


“Way too many of our young people turn to violence and have this hopelessness and have this ‘bling-bling’ mentality which they see on the rap videos.”