Mardi Gras Parade Began, Then 'Everybody Started Running'

One person is dead, 4 injured after shooting during Krewe of Bacchus parade in New Orleans
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 20, 2023 8:21 AM CST
Mardi Gras Parade Marred by Mass Shooting
Police work the scene of a shooting at the Krewe of Bacchus parade on Sunday in New Orleans.   (David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Five people were shot, one fatally, during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, police said, and a suspect is in custody. The victims included a young girl, a woman, and three men, who were all taken to a hospital after Sunday night's shooting during the Krewe of Bacchus parade, reports the AP. One of the male victims died of his injuries, while the other four victims are in stable condition, per NBC News.

One person was detained at the scene after the 9:30pm shooting, police said. "We were quickly able to apprehend the suspect we believe responsible for this," said Chief Deputy Hans Ganthier of the New Orleans Police Department, per the AP. Two guns were recovered, he said, but he wasn't certain whether there was anyone else involved.

"It was ... rapid [gunfire], and everybody started running," one witness told a WDSU reporter, adding that she thinks she heard around 20 gunshots. The Bacchus "superkrewe" was temporarily halted in the 1500 block of St. Charles Avenue after the shooting. An officer said that the parade would resume to "get out of the way" of the crime scene. "This is really not something we wanted to see," Ganthier said, per the AP. "We really wanted this to be a safe Mardi Gras."

(More Mardi Gras stories.)

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