NEW ORLEANS — Days away from 2023, the New Orleans homicide rate continues to rise.
38 minutes into Monday morning, two people were killed and four others were injured during a shooting in the Lower 9th Ward.
It happened in the 2000 block of St. Maurice Avenue. Police say a 19-year-old man and woman were shot. A 17 and 18-year-old girl and two other 18-year-old men were injured.
Friday evening comedian “Boogie B” Montrell was parked in the Rouses parking lot on Baronne Street when a stray bullet struck and killed him. He was visiting home for the holidays.
Councilman Oliver Thomas spoke on Monday morning's shooting.
“Man it pains me to think what those families are going through right now," he said. “You know what it's like to get up this morning and know you got parents burying their kids? That’s crazy man.”
From Friday to Monday, New Orleans Police reported several major crimes. Friday there were two murders, one robbery, and one carjacking.
On Christmas Eve there were two robberies and one shooting. From Christmas to Monday, there were two shootings, one robbery, two murders, and one rape.
The city’s major crime dashboard found that in the westernmost part of the city, there’ve been 13 murders this year, up from seven last year. In Algiers, there’s been 38 murders, one more than in 2021. In New Orleans East there have been 83 murders this year, up from the 44 last year.
Councilman Oliver Thomas is calling for city leaders to stop playing politics and start fighting crime.
“The people who want to carjack, the people who want to abuse, the people who want to rob, they seem to have a better plan, a more aggressive plan than us. Period. We need to be as aggressive and as organized as they are,” he said.
As of December 18, the Metropolitan Crime Commission reported our homicide rate is 31% higher than this time last year. There have been 668 shooting incidents this year, 207 were fatal. Armed robberies are up 39% this year.
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