NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say nine people have been injured during a shooting on Bourbon Street.
Police spokesman Frank Robertson said in a statement that the incident happened about 2:45 a.m. Sunday in the 700 block of Bourbon Street, which is two blocks up from Jackson Square and just around the corner from Pat O’Brien’s and Preservation Hall.
Mr. Robertson said the unidentified victims were taken to a hospital, where seven were listed in stable condition and a female was listed in critical condition. Another victim’s condition was not available.
An investigation was ongoing.
No further details were released.
Michael Tilbury, who lives on Pirate Alley, a few blocks from the shooting, told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune he heard the early morning shots.
“The shots woke us up,” Mr. Tilbury said. “We’ve lived here for two years, never heard or seen anything like this.”
Sunday morning’s incident is the third major shooting on Bourbon Street in the last three years.
Last February on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, an argument in the 400 block of Bourbon Street led to a shooting that sent four people to the hospital.
During Halloween in 2011 on that same block, one person was killed and seven others were injured after gunmen opened fire on each other in the crowd.
Bourbon Street is New Orleans’ most famous street, a nightly swirl of bright neon and happy tourists with beverage in hand. A blend of jazz joints, strip clubs, bars and restaurants, Bourbon Street has everything from four-star dining to sex shows.
While New Orleans has many other attractions, much of the nation thinks first of the French Quarter, and Bourbon Street in particular. Built on higher ground than most of the city, the French Quarter was spared the worst of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, mostly suffering scattered wind and water damage.
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