NEW ORLEANS — According to NOPD, a resident with a knife stabbed another resident, and a member of the staff. That's when a private security officer fired his service weapon shooting the man with the knife. People who use the low-barrier shelter say it's dangerous inside.
“I wish I never came here but I ain't got, don't want to sleep on the street,” said a man who has been in the shelter since January.
After three months of living there, he says there’s crime inside.
“You got a lot of different personalities of people there with different problems. A lot of people with problems, lots of drug problems.” He says there is mental illness and drug use that causes behavior problems.
“Yes ma'am. Yes ma'am. It's like 24-7. What they got is some people as I say, got mental problems here and they go off sometimes, and it is it be hectic. Ain't gonna lie to you.”
One woman calls it a "haven for your undesirables."
“I just come here to wash clothes because you can take a load a week and then wash it,” she said.
But she will not spend the night.
“I was pretty much told by the homeless it's pretty much a drug house, and prostitutes, because it's a low barrier, so it allows it to go on. I rather sleep in a tent around people who don't do drugs,” she added.
Late in the afternoon, the city of New Orleans had this response.
“You have a facility with 346 guests. You’re going to have incidents that happen and you’re going to have situations that take place, but we have security measures in place to make sure that individuals are taken care of from the front door to the time you hit the pillow, we have a lot of things that are happening, but the security officers we have here are doing the best they possibly can to serve as many guests as they have,” said Nathaniel Fields, Director of the Office of Homeless Services for the city of New Orleans.
Another man we spoke with believes that people sent to stay at the shelter need to be hospitalized and treated by mental health professionals.
► 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.