By Shay O’Connor | wdsu.com | May 29, 2023

NEW ORLEANS —There have been at least nine shootings since Thursday, the start of the Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans, at least two resulting in death.

Along Ursulines Avenue, a person was shot Monday morning multiple times. Corey Bartel lives nearby.

“The crime seems to be out of control. I am actually thinking about leaving the city. I love this city, but I am disappointed,” said Bartel.

According to the Metropolitan Crime Commission’s most up-to-date numbers the week of May 21, the city was already at 105 murders, down from 118 at the same time last year.

Dr. Peter Scharf, a professor at LSU School of Medicine, said, “We are kidding ourselves. To compare this year to last year. Because last year was the highest year in the history of the country.”

Still, crime analysts said these numbers are significantly higher than previous years. Jeff Asher released a tweet Sunday saying this marks only the second time since Hurricane Katrina that the city has reached 100 plus murders before the month of June.

Scharf said almost halfway through 2023, we have all but reached the total number of homicides in the entire year of 2019.

“We have too many damn guns. Too many crazy kids. Too few prevention resources. And law enforcement is not funded to the level it needs to be funded to,” said Scharf.

With the summer right around the corner, when crime normally sees a spike, Scharf said forming a coherent strategy should be a top priority for city officials.

Scharf said, “I think what we have to do is get a strategy. That looks at this high rate of murders, along with accountability managers. The goal cannot be to pat ourselves on the back. The goal has to be to stop the killing.”

Analysts are saying there definitely needs to be more police presence on the streets or some type of additional agency that can help out.

On Tuesday, leaders said they would hold a meeting to see what other cities have done in the past to lower violence.

WDSU will keep you updated on this story.

Anyone with information on any of the shootings that have happened since Thursday is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 504-822-1111.