She came to see her grandson graduate; she left in an ambulance and died at the hospital

When Augustine Greenwood, 80, headed to the Morris Jeff High School graduation ceremony last May, she beamed with pride. Her grandson, Corey Lashley, Jr., walked across the stage, mortar board atop his head held high, diploma in hand.

Greenwood held education in high regard after stopping her own after 8th grade. To see her children and grandchildren graduate was something special for their family.

“It started out being a really great day,” said Geraldine Lashley-Greenwood, daughter to Augustine, mother to Corey.

They left the ceremony, held at the Xavier University Convocation Center, pausing to take pictures together and with Corey’s friends. They were headed for a celebration lunch at a restaurant undetermined, but they never made it.

“She was just really happy on that day. She was really happy,” Geraldine said.
The three snapped a picture together and headed to their car. It was the last moment that made sense that day.

“As we were walking away, we heard the first shot and I turned to see what was going on,” Geraldine said.

Court records shed light on what happened next. Two of the graduates’ families began to argue in the parking lot. A 15-year-old grabbed a gun out of a purse tucked in a Honda Pilot. His brother tried to wrestle it away from him.

The gun fired in the struggle, leading a bullet to ricochet off the hot sidewalk, into the 15-year-old’s armpit.

The court documents say police allege 20-year-old Brandon Rock fired a shot across the parking lot toward the others and a relative of the 15-year-old, Laverne Duplessis, grabbed a gun and shot Rock in the legs.

“As I turned back, you could hear several more shots. And that's when I saw my mom landing on the ground,” Geraldine said.

The 80-year-old took a stray bullet across the parking lot.

“I just sat there with her and held her until the ambulance came. I'm going to say it was it was really a quick response time because the Mayor was the commencement speaker at the ceremony,” Geraldine said.

Her son’s best day ended in the worst possible way, not with a memorable speech from the city’s chief executive, but a grandmother gone forever.

The 9th Ward community garden where Augustine loved to volunteer will no longer be tended by her loving hand. One of her nieces, who considered Augustine a best friend, will not have Augustine at her upcoming wedding. The walking path on the levee where she loved to walk will be one less traveled. Thanksgivings for the Greenwood family will be lacking without her beloved cooking.

It's a well-lived life ended tragically because someone grabbed a gun to settle an argument.

WWL-TV broke down data from the National Gun Violence Archive, police records and media reports and documented 40 incidents when shots rang out that week. Nearly half of all those shooting incidents happened in the city of New Orleans. In all, statewide, 13 people died.

New Orleans Police Department records from the shootings tell a wide range of stories about why people were gunned down in the city at that time.

Investigators documented a man who allegedly shot his girlfriend in the face at Clouet and North Miro Street and several drive by shootings that week, including one shooting on Interstate 10 that left a man’s car riddled with bullets. And the police reports from that week tell the story of three random people shot outside Lucky’s Lounge on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East.

When population is factored into the numbers, Louisiana’s shooting rate that week was .87 per 100,000 people. That was nearly four times higher than the .28 per 100,000 in state of Texas, eight times higher than the .17 per 100,000 in California.

Overall in America, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, found the guns themselves are also a source of crime in the agency’s National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment published earlier this year.

“We are at around a million guns stolen across the country,” said Anthony Spotswood, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans field office.

In Louisiana, the agency estimates more than 7,000 guns are stolen on average each year. That’s the third-highest rate in the country, according to the ATF analysis. And their statistics show 95 percent of them are stolen from individual people.

Spotswood said the bump in car break-ins is likely happening for that very reason.

“I've been in law enforcement for around 23 years. And I can tell you, when I first started, this wasn't an epidemic like it is now. And I think what's happening is they see a level of success, right? These juveniles are breaking into cars and they're getting successful outcomes. They're finding guns,” Spotswood said.

In New Orleans’ city limits, where this past year has left residents with a rash of smashed windows, the NOPD found a similar trend.

“While we cannot speak to specific intent in these incidents, we can report that approximately 68% of stolen firearms reported {year to date} in New Orleans were taken in vehicle burglaries,” an NOPD spokesperson said in a statement.

“It does make me angry because I really, I hate guns. My mom did too. Always has,” Geraldine continued, “Right now, guns are ending up in hands of children, you know, or people who don't need to have guns.”

It is unclear if any of the guns used in her mother’s shooting were stolen or if they were legally bought by people in those feuding families. That's something that could come out during the trial of the three people allegedly involved, Laverne Duplessis, 41, Rock and the now-16-year-old.

Either way, Lashley said a high school graduation is no place for weapons.

“It's very disheartening. You know, as parents, we want to protect our children, sure. But as parents, you know, we should use our heads.” Geraldine later added, “And also, lock up your guns.”

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