NEW ORLEANS — A shooting on Veterans Boulevard, near the Orleans / Jefferson Parish line left two men injured and neighbors on edge.
It happened around 4, Thursday morning near the corner of Veterans and Fleur de Lis Boulevards. Lakewood residents on nearby Leslie Lane say they woke up to the sound of loud, continuous gunfire.
“It sounded like a high-powered weapon,” neighbor Cristian Silva said. “I don’t know how many they were by there were multiple, multiple shots.”
“Obviously, a high caliber rifle or something and probably a handgun, about 30, maybe 40 of them,” neighbor Brainerd Montgomery said. “Pop, pop, pop, pop, that kind of thing.”
A security camera from a home on Canal Boulevard, more than 10 blocks away captured the sound of a barrage of bullets.
It went on for more than a minute with what sounded like more than 60 rounds fired.
“It’s unbelievable,” Montgomery said. “It’s like the old west.”
According to the NOPD, four people were inside a vehicle stopped at a red light.
Police say another SUV pulled up, a group of shooters got out and opened fire on the vehicle. At least two of the four people targeted in the shooting were wounded. They knocked on some doors in the neighborhood, looking for help, leaving a broken window and trail of blood on one man’s doorstep.
“It’s out of control,” Silva said. “There has to be something done in this city.”
Lakewood neighbors say they’ve had crime close to home before, but nothing like this. Some of them are now wondering if living in New Orleans is worth it.
“I’m assuming these things will eventually hit the point where it’s intolerable,” Montgomery said. “People will move. Maybe they already are moving.”
The injured men, 36 and 39, were taken to a hospital. A man, 40, was not injured, and the fourth person ran away.
Police are still looking for the shooters.
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