NEW ORLEANS — Under the setting sun in Algiers Monday evening, a video posted to social media shows a fight that turned deadly on Ptolemy Street, next to McDonough Playground.
Twenty-seven seconds after the fight started you can hear what sounds like a gunshot. Brittany Ussin, 25, was shot. She was taken to the hospital, where she died.
“I got the call, I became numb,” said Ussin’s uncle Michael Willis.
Willis says his niece is seen in the video spraying a substance at another woman, while two others fought.
“It’s like no love out here. It’s just pure raw, no love at all out here,” said Willis.
As founder of Helping Other People Endure, a community organization focused on New Orleans youth, Willis has worked with many families of shooting victims. This time, it’s different.
“This is at my door now,” said Willis. “It’s not easy. It’s hard.”
Willis says his niece battled substance abuse and acute mental illness. He says family members have tried to help her in the past and it’s important to talk about those circumstances publicly.
“I think if Brittany had a little more time, if she could have just taken some other path than some people were trying to take her on, she probably could have changed her whole lifestyle,” said Willis.
The fight that happened wasn’t random. Family members say Ussin showed up with her sister for that reason. Willis says that speaks to a bigger problem of social media fueling violence.
“We start pushing the fight versus preventing the fight,” said Willis.
Willis says it’s a big problem in his community. You can see at least three other people in the video appearing to film the fight.
“It’s all about clicks now. It’s all about them views,” said Kasey Ussin, who shares a last name with Brittany but doesn’t know if he’s related.
Ussin has played basketball at the playground for years. He says social media has too much influence.
“There are a lot of altercations you go through in life and if you really think about it, if you just walk away from it, it’d be over,” said Ussin.
Willis wishes that would have happened Monday night. Instead, his family is grieving one of their own.
“We’ve got to start dealing with reality as it is. We hate each other for some reason,” said Willis.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no arrests had been made in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 504-658-5300 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
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