Thread: 9 Shot As New Orleans Starts Mardi Gras

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/16/D8NB2LS00.html -


9 Shot As New Orleans Starts Mardi Gras

Feb 16 5:05 PM US/Eastern


By MARY FOSTER
Associated Press Writer






NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- With tourists streaming into town for Mardi Gras celebrations, a spasm of gun violence left two people dead and seven wounded _ more bad news for a city struggling to rebuild itself and its tourism industry.
Officials noted the bloodshed did not occur near any of the parades Thursday night to celebrate Carnival, which culminates Tuesday in Mardi Gras.



The two unrelated shootings were not random or part of a robbery, and the victims were all targeted, Sgt. Joe Narcisse said.

In the first shooting Thursday evening, three people were shot, two fatally, in a car parked in the Ninth Ward, far from the heart of the party. The survivor _ the car's driver _ told police he knew and had given a ride to the man who shot them, Narcisse said.

Another shooting wounded six people, one critically, early Friday at a Mid-City nightclub. The gunman escaped in a stampede that followed.

"Once again it's a situation where violent crimes are taking place in inner-city neighborhoods and traditional hot spots," said Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The truth is, Mardi Gras continues to be one of the safest times for tourist to be here."

In January, the Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled an aggressive advertising campaign to attract tourists to the city 18 months after Hurricane Katrina.

In the French Quarter, some tourists seemed unconcerned by the violence.

"A lot of people back home told us not to come," Lisa Pencak said. "But we have crime in Pittsburgh as well, it's really no big deal. You have to be careful anywhere you go."

A lot of people back home told us not to come," Lisa Pencak said. "But we have crime in Pittsburgh as well, it's really no big deal. You have to be careful anywhere you go."

It always shocks me how desensitized some people have become to homicide, shootings and violence in general. Is it stupidity or ignorance is bliss syndrome?

"The truth is, Mardi Gras continues to be one of the safest times for tourist to be here."

Nine people shot the first night of Mardi Gras and this is the safest time to be there?

That's a hell of a lot of murder for any town.

Dixie

Sorry, but I have nothing I can think of to say good about NO.

The truth is, Mardi Gras continues to be one of the safest times for tourist to be here."

Kinda makes a person wonder what the unsafe times are like...

It always shocks me how desensitized some people have become to homicide, shootings and violence in general. Is it stupidity or ignorance is bliss syndrome?

It's almost as if it's part of any plan anymore to prepare yourself for crime. And they wonder why people are all stressed out and on edge. You can't totally relax in your own home anymore......forget a vacation....you're an easy target then!

it seems that is the way the hole contry is going, 'its ok there is crime every where'. that is not the world i grew up in. what is happening? crime increases and the government , instead of enforcing the law, tells us 'that's life'. i think we've been sold out.

I'll tell you a story about New Orleans. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, there was a wave of murders in the famous cemeteries of the area. Many tourists liked to spook themselves by touring the cemeteries after dark, but so many were being killed in ritualistic killings that the hotels began issuing warnings. On one trip there in 1991, some of my English cohorts mentioned that they wanted to visit one of the cemeteries at night, at which point I warned them about the killings. They refused to believe me. When we arrived at the hotel, the desk clerk volunteered without being prompted that we should avoid the graveyards and that just two nights before, a group of FIVE tourists were found with their throats cut and neatly arranged around a famous crypt. Now think about what it takes to get the drop on five tourists and cutting all their throats, then arranging them in an urban cemetery. We're not talking about a lone nut.

CG, I think that town has always been full of nut cases. It's a bad, dangerous place any time.