NEW ORLEANS — With bullet holes still in his van, a New Orleans East man is the latest victim of a shooting on Interstate 10 in New Orleans.
“He broke the rear window, the front window, he shot the door, my dashboard, the steering wheel,” said the man who asked not to be identified by name.
The shooting happened Tuesday morning, on I-10 westbound, while he was on his way to work. He says between Read and Crowder Boulevards in New Orleans East two trucks with no license plates got behind him. One then pulled in front of him.
“He tried to slow me down to exactly 10 miles an hour,” said the man.
That’s when he says the other truck pulled up to his passenger side.
“I looked at him. Soon as I look at him, he opens fire on me,” said the man.
At least three bullets hit his van, one of them going through his mask hanging from his steering wheel. His left hand is still wounded from the fragments and shattering glass.
“When he started shooting at me, I just moved my head all the way back to the seat to protect myself,” said the man.
Protection also meant grabbing his own gun which he never fired, but says saved his life.
“When he saw me with a gun in my hand, they just drove. They drove fast. They got away from me,” said the man. “To me, I feel like it’s a carjacking or something like that.”
New Orleans police confirm another person also reported their car being shot around the same time and believe it’s connected to that shooting.
There have been multiple reported I-10 shootings this year, mostly in New Orleans East. Back in January, a young mother, Whitney Watts, 34, was shot multiple times with her daughter in the back seat. Watts died at the scene, also near the Crowder Boulevard exit.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to do,” said the man. “It’s really crazy.”
Even with no reason to feel targeted, the man hasn’t gone back home since the shooting. He won’t drive his van again and is considering a move out of New Orleans.
“I’m scared to go over there, honestly. I’m really scared to go back home. I’m really, really scared,” said the man. “[What if] they’re looking at me again and they’re going to kill me.”
A scary situation he hopes police can put the brakes on before it happens to someone else.
So far, no arrests have been made in this case. A bullet found in the van was turned over to the NOPD, which is asking anyone with information to give the department a call.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.