New Orleans Police say 3 shot, 1 killed in French Quarter

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — One person was shot to death Thursday afternoon and three others were injured in the French Quarter, New Orleans’ historic tourist district, police said.

Police responded to the shooting at the intersection of Iberville and Royal streets at around 12:21 p.m. and had at least one of three suspects in custody, Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters.

Kirkpatrick said at least three masked suspects were in a silver 2016 Honda Accord when they pulled up outside Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse and opened fire.

“This was not random, and we could see that,” Kirkpatrick said in a media briefing at the scene.

The arrested suspect’s name and the expected charges have not yet been released.

Kirkpatrick urged the other suspects to come forward.

“We know who you are,” she said. “We’re asking you to come in, turn yourself in.”

At least one firearm has been recovered, she said.

It’s the second shooting incident within a week in Orleans Parish.

On Sunday, gunfire broke out twice as the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s second line parade rolled through a neighborhood, wounding 10 people, then killing two people and wounding a third 45 minutes later as the parade crossed the Almonaster bridge.

“Tragically, we are faced with another mass shooting this week,” said New Orleans City Council president Helena Moreno in a statement. “This is an overall gun violence problem throughout our city and we cannot stand for it. This is not who we are and those responsible will be apprehended and fully prosecuted.”

Kirkpatrick noted that in November 2023, 20 murders were recorded. Thursday’s shooting brings the number to nine so far for November 2024, she said.

The last shooting involving multiple people in the French Quarter happened in Nov. 2022, when five people were shot, none fatally, in the 200 block of Bourbon Street. In Nov. 2016, one person died and nine were wounded in a shooting in the 100 block of Bourbon Street shooting.

Meanwhile, the two victims from Thursday’s incident were listed in stable condition and a third was in surgery, Kirkpatrick said.

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse was closed at the time of the shooting. No workers were injured and the business will remain closed Thursday, spokesperson Lindsay Ross told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.