NEW ORLEANS — Folks in a New Orleans East neighborhood are still in disbelief after a shooting Tuesday night left a pregnant woman injured. Police say there were multiple shooters, and the unidentified pregnant woman may not have been the intended target.
The shooting happened around 8 o’clock on Redwood Street outside a home, not far from Eric Donatto’s.
“From what I could tell it sounded like 10 to 15 shots,” Donatto said. “Sounded like two different weapons, at least, maybe three.”
Donatto, a retired police officer, was inside his home at the time.
“I came outside and seen where there was something going on down here at the end of the street and all of a sudden, I started hearing shots again,” Donatto said.
According to police a 30-year-old woman was being picked up by her boyfriend outside a home in the 4600 block of Redwood Street.
That’s when police say four suspects got out of a nearby gray SUV and started shooting at the boyfriend. Police say the woman was shot once.
“I could see it speeding off,” said Gray referring to the SUV.
Donatto believes that gray SUV was seen on security driving by his home. Another neighbor shared a picture of what appears to be the same SUV parked outside her house.
Police confirm to Eyewitness News that the SUV is a Dodge Durango and is a vehicle of interest.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell addressed the shooting Wednesday.
“What I do know, and I care most about, she’s ok and the baby is ok. Thank God for that,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell believes the shooting wasn’t random, but rather tied to other incidents happening in the city.
Neighbors are tired of those incidents.
“We were shocked, my neighbors and I, I was scared,” said a neighbor who asked not to be identified.
That neighbor heard Tuesday night’s shooting as well. In her 24 years living on Redwood Street, she’s never seen a problem with crime.
“I just pray that everything is ok with the lady and her baby, and we want our neighborhood back. We have to fight,” said the neighbor. “We as a community have to fight to keep our neighborhood clear of this violence and stuff.”
“This really disturbed me, happening this close to my house,” Donatto said.
Having lost a son to gun violence, Donatto thought his neighborhood had gotten safer over the nearly 30 years he’s been here.
“I thought the neighborhood had quietened down, that there wasn’t going to be any more problems, but you never know,” Donatto said.
Anyone who may have information about this shooting is asked to call police or Crimestoppers. Tips to Crimestoppers are anonymous. The number to Crimestoppers is 504-822-1111.
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