By Stacey Plaisance
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS, La. — One person was killed and another wounded in a New Orleans shooting along a Mardi Gras parade route in uptown, police said.
Police spokesman Frank Robertson said there was an altercation around 10 p.m. Thursday during which a person produced a gun and shot two people.
One victim was struck in the neck and the other in the chest, Robertson said. Both were taken to a hospital and the one who was shot in the chest, a 21-year-old, died in surgery, he said.
Police said one suspect was in custody and was being questioned. A weapon was recovered nearby. No other details were immediately available.
1 killed, 1 in critical condition after shooting on St. Charles during Muses: http://t.co/2Ix05O9CZ1 #MardiGras pic.twitter.com/7hMur4Wbtp
— Carlie Kollath Wells (@carlie_kollath) February 13, 2015
The shooting occurred during the Muses parade — the traditional kickoff to the Carnival weekend.
The New Orleans Advocate reports officers stationed nearby responded immediately. Barriers were set up, but the parade rolled on.
Angela Matherne, a resident of Thibodaux, Louisiana, was taking in the parade with family when the shooting happened a block away. Matherne told The Associated Press she didn’t hear anything “but saw people running in our direction and police in the opposite.”
Matherne said the parade kept going so she didn’t realize there had been a shooting until later, when she left the parade route.
The city will host several parades daily until Mardi Gras, which is Tuesday.