NEW ORLEANS — Police arrested a man and a teenager in connection with a shooting Thursday night that left three people dead and two others wounded outside of a Gentilly home housing a music studio.
Maurice Lumar, 19, faces one count each of illegally carrying weapons and possession of a stolen firearm following the bloodshed in the 4100 block of Rayne Drive, court officials said Friday.
A 15-year-old also faces a count of illegally carrying a weapon, but his name was not released because he is a minor, according to New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
Police have not said whether they might book either Lumar or the 15-year-old with additional counts.
Ferguson said officers responding to a call of a shooting on Rayne Drive found three people dead and two more wounded about 9:40 p.m. Thursday.
Those slain were a 19-year-old, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old, Ferguson said. All three of them are male. All were pronounced dead at the scene.
A 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were wounded and taken to the hospital for treatment.
None of the names of those shot have been released.
Police initially described the case as a quadruple shooting, but Ferguson on Friday said five people had been struck by gunfire.
Investigators have not publicly discussed a possible motive or detailed exactly what they believe happened. A woman living at the home where the shooting occurred said Friday that one of her two sons had people over to record music in his studio, and the guests were leaving when someone began to shoot at them.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said it sounded like at least one of the departing visitors started to shoot back.
She said she heard about a dozen gunshots in all. One of the slain men fell on her porch, and after the shooting stopped she asked her son to call 911.
"It was a lot," the woman said. Referring to the dead and wounded, she added, "My heart goes out to their parents."
According to police, as officers arrived to investigate the shooting, they spotted Lumar and the teenager running on nearby Virgil Boulevard.
Officers stopped both and found a .380-caliber pistol in Lumar's left sweatshirt pocket after patting him down, according to a sworn police statement filed in criminal court Friday. Meanwhile, police said they found a 9mm pistol in the teen's waistband.
Officers took Lumar and the 15-year-old to police headquarters so that they could be questioned by homicide investigators.
Investigators arrested both of them after Lumar acknowledged being armed with the .380 pistol and that his teen companion also had a gun, police said.
The gun linked to Lumar had been reported stolen in Jefferson Parish nearly five years ago, police said. Police said the other weapon had not been reported stolen.
Lumar’s bail was set at $7,500 on Friday afternoon. It was not clear whether bail had yet been set for the teen suspect.
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