Tagged: police

A day of sporadic gun violence in New Orleans, including an evening rush-hour shooting near a major thoroughfare, has left two adults and one child dead.

The latest police report indicated the child, a girl, was 5 years old. She was among those hit in the rush hour shooting in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood. Police said a 33-year-old woman also was killed. Three others, including a 10-year-old boy and two men were hit but their injuries were not believed life threatening. At least one man was seen firing a weapon. No suspects had been arrested as of Tuesday night.

The staggering low point of a day in which nine people were shot in New Orleans came at mid-afternoon, when a five-year-old girl and another innocent bystander were left mortally wounded outside a young boy's tenth birthday party.

The murder rate in New Orleans has consistently been well above the national average. But Mayor Mitch Landrieu is searching for answers to change that. He speaks with host Michel Martin about his five-step plan to lower the murder rate, his plans to reform the police department, and being mayor of a city in recovery.

New Orleans reportedly has the highest murder rate per capita in the U.S. Trying to make the city safer involves walking a fine line between safety, regulation, and constitutional rights. Host Michel Martin continues her conversation with Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who says he's trying to make his city safer for all residents.

New Orleans police say a 29-year-old man died after falling into a canal near Irish Bayou in New Orleans East.

Officer Garry Flot, a police spokesman, says the body of Harold Johnson of New Orleans was found Sunday afternoon, near the spot where he fell in earlier that day.

Flot says said the death will be listed as unclassified until an autopsy.