Shooting at Mother`s Day parade in New Orleans injures 19

USPA News - Nineteen people were injured Sunday when as many as three gunmen opened fire at a crowd watching a Mother`s Day parade in New Orleans, police said on Monday. The motive was not yet known, and no arrests were immediately made.

The incident happened at approximately 1:47 p.m. local time on Sunday when gunfire erupted at the end of a Second Line Parade to mark Mother`s Day, which is celebrated on the second Sunday of May in the United States. "It was over in just a couple of seconds," said Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas. Investigators believe at least two different guns were used in the shooting, but officers at the scene reported seeing as many as three suspects running away from the area. "One of the suspects` description would be a dark-skinned male, 18 to 22 years old, short hair, wearing a white shirt and blue jean shorts," Serpas said. "We have no further information on the suspects at this time." Nineteen people were injured as a result of the shooting, including some who were grazed by bullets that ricocheted. Serpas did not know the exact conditions of the victims but said most of the wounds were not considered to be life-threatening, although four people were undergoing emergency surgery on late Sunday afternoon. The victims were described as ten adult males, seven adult females, and two 10-year-old children, but it was not immediately clear whether any of them had been deliberately targeted. "The 10-year-old victims had graze wounds to the body and are in good condition," a police spokesperson said on Monday morning. "Obviously, these are unusual circumstances. .. We had a full compliment of police officers," Serpas explained. "It appears that, these 2 or 3 people, just for a reason unknown to us, started shooting at, towards or in the crowd. It was over in just a couple of seconds, police were everywhere."