NEW ORLEANS — When a 911 call came in at 3:39 Sunday afternoon about a shooting, New Orleans EMS responded immediately.
“We very quickly sent our first responders there,” said New Orleans EMS medical director Dr. Meg Marino.
Dr. Marino said when responders got there seven minutes later, they knew it was a bigger situation.
“It was very clear that there were multiple patients shot, and then when the second call came in, with the second location, it was clear that we were looking at a mass casualty incident,” said Dr. Marino.
Two separate shootings during the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club second line in the St. Roch neighborhood left just more than a dozen people injured. They range in age from 19 to 71.
“There were 13 patients total. Five of them received treatment on scene and one was pronounced dead at the scene,” said Dr. Marino.
Another died at the hospital. A GoFundMe account identifies those two as relatives, Rasean Carter and Malachi Jackson. Police chief Anne Kirkpatrick says anyone who fired shots will be caught.
“We do have leads, and we will find the perpetrators. You will be held accountable,” said Kirkpatrick.
Back at the scene Marino says EMS sent as many resources as possible to try and prioritize care for victims.
“In a scene like this our team is usually very calm and controlled even if the scene is quite chaotic,” said Dr. Marino. “They know how to really focus on the task at hand, getting those patients safely to the hospital.”
Marino says that fortunately, and unfortunately, EMS has a lot of experience with shootings in New Orleans. She says that helped save lives Sunday.
“Everyone worked together seamlessly to take care of this really, really terrible unfortunate incident,” said Dr. Marino.
An incident that has left a community stunned and a family grieving.
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