NEW ORLEANS — The man accused of shooting at two NOPD officers without warning in the French Quarter Friday was released from the hospital and booked with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, booking records show.
Police say 44-year-old Donnell Linwood Hassell was in the back of a pedicab headed along St. Phillip Street when he stood up and began firing a handgun at two NOPD officers sitting in their patrol vehicle, parked on Royal Street.
One officer, 4-year veteran Trevor Abney, was hit in the cheek, just below his left eye. He was taken to the hospital with a bullet lodged in his skull, but was coherent and able to walk into the hospital on his own and talk after the attack. He is expected to survive.
His partner, Brooke Duncan IV, was treated for minor injuries caused by glass shards shattered by the bullets.
It was a brazen attack with no warning in the middle of a busy intersection in the French Quarter, at the start of a busy Halloween weekend.
Police still aren't sure of a motive, but say there was no interaction between the officers and Hassell before he began firing.
Hassell is from Georgia, and appears to have been staying as a tourist in a nearby French Quarter Hotel.
After the shooting, Hassell allegedly took off, but didn't go far. Police chased him down to a construction site near the intersection of Decatur and St. Peter streets, about six blocks away, and arrested him without incident.
Instead of being immediately booked, he was taken to the hospital after his for what was described as a “medical episode.”
NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said the episode wasn't caused by the arrest.
Hassell faces two charges of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. Each charge has a maximum sentence of 50 years if convicted, and more charges are possible.
Court records indicated Sunday that he had not seen a judge for an initial appearance, and bail had not been set.
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