By WDSU Digital Team | WDSU | August 2, 2021
After violent shootings occurred over the weekend, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Shaun Ferguson held a news conference to address the public.
Ferguson called the violent crime incidents that occurred over the weekend “alarming” and “disturbing.”
The following shootings were reported over the weekend:
- 12:37 a.m. Saturday in the 5900 block of Boeing Street: 7-year-old male wounded.
- 5:28 p.m. Saturday in the 14600 block of Curran Road: 18-year-old male killed.; 18-year-old male wounded.
- 9:15 p.m. Saturday at L.B. Landry Avenue and Mardi Gras Boulevard: two males wounded, ages 31 and 30.
- 11:55 p.m. Saturday in the 2800 block of Magnolia Street: 25-year-old male wounded.
- 2:04 a.m. Sunday at Bourbon and Orleans streets: five males wounded, ages 30, 36, 51, 25 and unknown.
- 4:40 a.m. Sunday in the 1600 block of Iberville Street: one male killed, age not provided; three males wounded, ages not provided.
- 8:32 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of Tupelo Street: 38-year-old male wounded.
- 8:40 p.m. Sunday in the 700 block of Caffin Avenue: 48-year-old male wounded.
- 11:24 p.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Tulane Avenue: 27-year-old female wounded.
There have been eight shootings on Bourbon Street so far in 2021. There were two shootings on Bourbon Street in 2020, and four in 2019.
Ferguson said of the five people injured in the Bourbon Street shooting on Sunday, the shooter was one of the five injured. There is no motive in this shooting, Ferguson said.
He also specifically addressed the shooting on Iberville Street, which he said involved teenagers.
Ferguson said a 15-year-old died, and a 15-year-old was arrested in connection with this incident. Two 16-year-olds were also shot and injured in the incident, according to Ferguson.
Ferguson shared statistics during a news conference last week that addressed the city’s significant increase in violent crime, although he said such activity has ebbed in recent weeks thanks to recent police initiatives.
Ferguson acknowledged he had read the recent Metropolitan Crime Commission’s report that highlights the increase in violent crime over the past two years. The report also suggested the department needed to add another 400 officers to effectively combat crime in New Orleans.
The police chief did not discuss any specific strategies in place to attract more police recruits, only indicating that he and Mayor LaToya Cantrell supported efforts to augment the number of officers on the force.
The police profession has struggled nationwide with perception, Ferguson said. Before the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, the NOPD would typically receive about 500 applications a month to its training academy. Ferguson said that number has fallen by 50 since then.
Ferguson said one thing the NOPD has in its favor when it comes to enticing prospective officers is that it has set the pace when it comes to implementing constitutional police practices. Many of those were the result of a federal consent decree that followed an investigation into civil rights abuses and corruption in the department.