NEW ORLEANS — Councilmember Oliver Thomas revealed that the woman who was wounded in a double shooting in New Orleans East Tuesday was his niece.
On Thomas' morning talk show on WBOK-AM, he said his niece was shot twice in the head.
“Two young girls were shot up with over 50 bullets yesterday. One died," Thomas said. "Fortunately, my niece didn’t. Fortunately, she can still fight for her life.”
Thomas' niece is at the hospital for treatment and is still in emergency surgery nearly 24 hours later, but another woman died on the scene.
Thomas said that the car the two women were sitting in belonged to his niece's boyfriend. He did not identify any of the victims.
“So when four young men jump out of a car at 3:30 and shoot up a car with two young women in it and my niece was driving her boyfriend’s car," Thomas said, visibly shaken. "I'm not blaming the police. I'm not blaming politicians. I'm blaming us. Maybe our families aren't right. Maybe we're not raising our kids with the values and the care we should have. Maybe I wasn't the best uncle."
Thomas represents New Orleans East on the city council and heads the council's criminal justice committee. He has been outspoken about the violence plaguing New Orleans, which recently made national headlines for leading the nation in homicides-per-capita.
“She didn’t listen. She didn’t date the right boys or the right young men. She didn’t make all the right choices. But her friend didn’t deserve to die, and she doesn’t deserve a bullet in her head and her face," Thomas said. "Nobody deserves that.”
New Orleans police are seeking four male suspects in connection with the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detective Matthew Riffle at 504-658-5300 or CRIMESTOPPERS at 504-822-1111.
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