NEW ORLEANS — Famed trumpeter Kermit Ruffins’ pregnant girlfriend told WWL-TV Friday that she is healing from a gunshot wound in her stomach and her newborn daughter -- delivered by emergency C-section after the shooting Thursday night -- is in stable condition.
Harmonese Pleasant, 25, was 39 weeks pregnant and had already had her baby shower when she was shot while standing outside she shared with Ruffins in Treme shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the ongoing NOPD investigation said medical workers discovered after they had arrived that Pleasant had been shot.
The infant was delivered by C-section and taken to Children’s Hospital while Pleasant was rushed to University Medical Center for emergency surgery.
Pleasant said she was outside on Treme Street, talking to a friend from Mississippi, and never even heard a gunshot. Then she suddenly screamed in pain. She said Ruffins was not there at the time.
“He was my first phone call, though. I made sure to call him when I saw all of the blood,” Pleasant wrote in a text to WWL-TV.
She said she doesn’t know who shot her, and New Orleans Police said they didn’t have any suspects by Friday afternoon.
Multiple police sources said at least one witness told detectives at the scene Thursday night that someone in a blue Chevy Malibu pulled up and talked to the people gathered at Ruffins’ house. The witness or witnesses recalled hearing at least one gunshot, the police sources said.
But Pleasant said no car pulled up while she was outside and all the cars were already parked. She also said there was no big sound from a gun firing because the bullet that hit her was “super small.”
Attempts to reach Ruffins were not successful. NOPD declined to give further details on the incident.
In a post to Facebook and Instagram Friday, Ruffins announce the Mother-in-Law Lounge will be closed until further notice.
Ruffins shared a photo of Pleasant on Instagram early Friday with the caption, "Harmonese and Baby doing fine. The violence of our beautiful city has hit home."
WWL-TV cameras captured an active crime scene and Ruffins speaking with police officers outside the single-family home on Treme Street around 10 p.m. Thursday.
Pleasant, 25, is the office coordinator at Reve Realtors. Coincidentally, another recent victim of the city's violent crime wave, Kelleye Rhein, also works at Reve as a Realtor. Rhein was carjacked last month and dragged across the parking lot at a Costco gas station, suffering serious injuries.
Reve gave WWL-TV a short statement Friday in response to questions about Pleasant: "We are praying for a quick recovery for Harmonese and her daughter."