A weekend of violence and bloodshed in New Orleans has left five people dead in an attempted murder-suicide and two shootings involving moving vehicles, The Times-Picayune reported.
The first deaths occurred Saturday around 3:30 a.m. when two men were shot while riding inside a Toyota Corolla on Interstate-10 in eastern New Orleans. The New Orleans Police Department did not release their ages.
By Sunday morning, another man died and his friend was critically wounded when the man, 20, shot his friend before turning the gun on himself in the French Quarter, the newspaper reported.
Police arrived at the Westin Canal Place Hotel moments after the gunman shot his 24-year-old friend twice in the chest at around 6:30 a.m. The shooter aimed his weapon at police as they tried to enter the door, prompting authorities to send NOPD negotiators and a SWAT team to the scene.
A gunshot was heard at around 9:30 a.m. and officers rushed into the room to find the 20-year-old with a gunshot wound to his chest. The shooter, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.
As of Monday the 24-year-old victim is said to be in stable condition at a local hospital, The Times-Picayune reported.
The motive for the hotel shooting was not immediately clear. The gunman's three friends, who were also in the hotel room, said the victim told his friend to "put down the gun" before he open fired. Police said the shooter appeared to be under the influence of an "unknown substance."
Two more people were killed and two toddlers were wounded in a drive-by shooting on Sunday in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of Holy Cross, the newspaper reported. According to witnesses, the shots came from a dark-colored car with several male passengers that drove by a house on Burgundy Street at around 8 p.m.
A 16-year-old girl who was standing in front of the house, Jasmine Anderson, was killed. A man whose name was not released was also killed. The two toddlers, ages 2 and 4, are reportedly in critical condition. A teenager and a woman who were also wounded are in stable condition.
