NEW ORLEANS — An active Mid-City community member, a security guard was shot and killed outside a North Carrollton bar Sunday night after denying a man entry.
The deadly shooting happened shortly after 11 outside the Wit's Inn. NOPD said on Monday that the suspect was still at large and escaped from the scene in a White Kia Soul.
Councilman Oliver Thomas confirmed to WWL Louisiana that the victim was Darriel King, 53, who had been working as the bar's security guard.
"Whenever there was a community event, someone to volunteer, mentoring, cleanup, anywhere in the city -- he was that person committed to community service," Councilman Thomas said of King on Monday. "People with so many guns can't settle disputes, and here one of my good friends, someone who did everything they could to help their city paid the price for his life."
A Wit's Inn spokesperson called King a hero.
"For risking his life for the betterment of the people that were there," the bar's spokesperson said Monday. "He could have saved a bunch of lives that night."
King was also known by political and community leaders in New Orleans even appearing on the ballot during the March Louisiana Primary as a candidate for the state Democratic Executive Committee.
His killing inspired councilmembers to call for a public safety review of bar operations on Monday.
"This is a terrible tragedy, particularly since issues in this area had been flagged for so long," Council President Helena Moreno said Monday. "We need to use every tool available to curb violence in our city."
King had apparently denied a man entry to the bar, for not meeting Wit's Inn's 30-year-old age requirement, according to a spokesperson.
King even met Mayor LaToya Cantrell in December when he graduated from a New Orleans government leadership class.
Anyone with additional information that can assist in this investigation is asked to contact NOPD Homicide Section detectives at (504) 658-5300, or Crimestoppers anonymously at (504) 822-1111.
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