Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:26pm EST

Sixteen people injured in New Orleans shooting, police say

NEW ORLEANS | BY HELEN FREUND

A gunfight erupted on Sunday in a New Orleans park during a party where a music video was being filmed, leaving 16 people injured, police said.

Circumstances surrounding the shooting in the city's Upper Ninth Ward, and details of what precipitated the violence, were not immediately clear, but New Orleans Police Department spokesman Tyler Gamble told Reuters no fatalities were reported.

Asked whether gang activity was thought to be involved, Gamble said it "was still too soon to say."

"We know, by speaking with some of the victims, that there were two groups of people shooting at each other," Gamble said.

He said he did not know the conditions of the 16 victims, who were taken to several area hospitals for treatment.

The gunfight broke out during what appeared to be an "unplanned block party" attended by some 200 people where a music video was being shot, Gamble said.

The incident unfolded between 6 and 7 p.m. Central Time at the Bunny Friend playground, following a community "second line" parade that ended a few blocks away earlier in the day, police said in an earlier statement.

New Orleans police Commander Chris Goodley, speaking in a video clip posted by the New Orleans Times-Picayune website, said the crowd at the park remained "orderly" after the shooting.

"But we were trying to preserve the crime scene as best as we could and tend to the victims," he added.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison also was quoted by the Times-Picayune as saying, "no one has died at this time."

Three witnesses told the newspaper they saw a man with a silver-colored machine gun, and also heard more gunshots coming from within the crowd as he ran away.

Several people were lying on the sidewalk after the shooting, it said.

WVUE-TV said police believed the shooting stemmed from a fight.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu had arrived at the scene of the shooting, the Times-Picayune said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/us-louisiana-shooting-idUSKBN0TC06820151123#qgHysp4MPAVqZYjc.99