Police say at least 18 people injured in “act of street violence” during Mother’s Day parade in southern US city.
Police in New Orleans city in the US state of Louisiana say at least 17 people have been injured in a shooting during a Mother’s Day parade.
FBI spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig said federal investigators had no indication that Sunday’s shooting was an act of terrorism.
“It’s strictly an act of street violence in New Orleans,” she said.
The southern city has one of the highest violent crime rates in the US.
A news release said the wounded included two 10-year-olds. It also said two people were in surgery.
Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said shots from “maybe two different types of weapons” rang out “and immediately after the shots were fired, our officers saw three people running away.
“At this time, we have no indication that anyone will perish from today’s events,” Serpas said.
Police said the incident happened about 2pm local time at the intersection of Frenchmen and Villere streets.
Nobody had been arrested as of late Sunday afternoon.
Police were said to be looking for three people in connection with the attack.
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 level before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.
As many as 400 people joined what is known as a second-line parade, a loose procession in which people dance down the street, often following a brass band. They can be impromptu or planned.
Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events.
Source: Aljazeera
