NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police are searching for the gunman who fired into a car in Mid-City sending a woman and a teenager to the hospital.
According to the NOPD, there was gunfire in 600 block of South Gayoso Street in around 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
Beatrice Jack heard the shots.
“I was in my bedroom talking to my daughter on the phone and I heard eight shots,” Jack said.
She told her grandchildren who were playing outside to come in and quickly shut her front door.
“I told them I wasn’t letting nobody come in my house and kill me because this is supposed to be my safe zone,” Jack said. “And I called police and a few minutes later the police came.”
Police say a 28-year-old woman was shot several times and a 17-year-old girl was injured by glass shattered in the shooting.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified said the women sped down Gayoso and slammed into the side gate of the Orleans Justice Center two blocks away.
“It looked like they crashed through the gate, trying to escape the gunfire,” he said. “I saw that they had crews out there this morning repairing the gate, attempting to repair the gate.”
Thursday, Orleans sheriff’s deputies were stationed in front of the damaged gate.
Police did not release many details about the gunmen, only that he was a “known male.”
Neighbors are shocked the shooting happened on their street, so close to the jail.
“Most definitely because it’s right here on your block,” the neighbor said.
“These youngsters, they don’t know how to handle life,” Jack said. "Life is ups and life is downs, but you got to learn how to handle it. We don’t really need weapons. We don’t need guns. I always tell them if you want to tote a gun, go become a police officer or go to the Army.”
EMS rushed both women to University Medical Center.
We do not have an update on their conditions.
► 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.