NEW ORLEANS — Yellow police tape blocked off the Poydras Street entrance to the Caesars Superdome Tuesday after a New Orleans police officer shot a man at least once.
“Shot in the arm and I believe the upper extremity. It’s apparent he has a wound to the upper extremity as well,” NOPD Chief Deputy Superintendent Chris Goodly said.
Chief Goodly says officers were called by the dome’s security team to help deal with an unidentified man who was outside Gate A near the ticket office.
“At this point it looks like he was occupying space in front of the ticket booth. It doesn’t look like he was making entry into the dome though,” Goodly said.
Police didn’t directly say whether “occupying space” means they believe the man is part of the unhoused community, or whether he was acting erratically or making threats. Goodly says when officers got there, the man pulled out a knife. That’s when one of the three responding officers opened fire.
“The officer that is involved is assigned to the EIghth district. He joined the department in 2020 and he is currently being reassigned as per normal protocol during this process,” Goodly said.
The shooting happened just after 7 a.m., a busy time in downtown. Workers along Poydras Street say there are often people from the unhoused community sleeping outside their businesses.
“There are groups out there that serve that very community, that very demographic of our city,” Major Christopher Thornhill, area commander of The Salvation Army of Greater New Orleans said.
Thornhill doesn’t know anyone involved in what happened but does know the importance of having services for people who need them.
“I hate that things like what happened over by the Superdome happened. It shouldn’t happen. There are places for people,” Thornhill said. “They just have to be willing to have some effort and make an effort to better the situation for themselves.”
Thornhill says for whatever reason some people chose not to use shelters or other services.
He says the Salvation Army is working with the city to make sure situations like this don’t happen, especially leading to officers being called.
“I know they’re trained to de-escalate those situations but there are moments when they’re having to make life or death decisions,” Thornhill said.
The unidentified officer who shot the man was wearing a body camera. The department is reviewing the video and the policy to release it. That could take about ten days.
The man who was shot was taken to a hospital. The NOPD reports he is in stable condition. So far, police haven’t said whether any charges will be filed.