NEW ORLEANS — As New Orleans reels from the fatal shooting of a 63-year-old woman by a 17-year-old teen in what police said was an auto burglary gone wrong, city officials pleaded with parents and guardians to do their part in stopping juvenile crime.
"This should not be happening to anyone. These individuals have become brazen and bold," New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said at a Thursday press conference about the shooting. "We have to do a better job on our end, but we also have to ask parents to do a better job on their end."
Story continues under video of cousin describing washing away the blood
Ferguson called back to a previous press conference in April, where he reported a rise in auto burglaries and other crimes committed by young offenders.
Since then, numerous reports of auto burglaries and carjackings by juveniles have made headlines in New Orleans, including at least one where the suspect caught on camera entering a vehicle still had on a school uniform.
The suspect in Wednesday's fatal incident was arrested and booked for second-degree murder shortly after the crime, but police said the arrest wasn't his first. The teen, identified as 17-year-old Emanuel Pipkins, had been arrested a month before on an unrelated auto burglary charge.
Ferguson said this kind of repeat offense isn't uncommon.
"We have made several arrests over the past few months. We are rearresting some of the same individuals," he said. "I am begging the parents to do their part to assist us."
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell echoed his message, asking the community to come together to lower juvenile crime through vigilance about family members.
"Last night ... one of our residents lost his wife," she said. "This is real. He lost his wife. A daughter lost her mother, and it's senseless."
Cantrell outlined several ways the city was set to push back against juvenile crime as schools prepare to let their students out for the summer. She emphasized the upcoming curfew in the city, set to begin June 1.
The curfew, which applies to children under the age of 17, runs from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday through Thursday and from 11 p.m to 6 a.m Friday and Saturday. In the French Quarter, the curfew is from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. seven days a week.
After the shooting, Cantrell said her office was considering implementing the curfew early, but gave no additional details about the deliberations.
But as officials ask for support from the community, those closest to the shooting are still in shock.
Elmo Vincent, the cousin of the woman killed in the shootout, began cleaning up the morning after because leaving it would remind him of his lost family member.
"I had to wash the blood off the street because I can't stand to see my blood on that ground," he said. "That hurts me, to see my blood on the ground."