Bourbon Street Shooting: 9 Shot, 2 Critically Wounded [Video]

The Bourbon Street shooting, which occurred in the early Sunday morning hours — around 2:45 am — has resulted in nine injuries at this time, with two being “critically wounded,” The Associated Press reports.

According to the news organization, two men “exchanged gunfire early Sunday on the city’s always-crowded Bourbon Street in the celebrated French Quarter and nine people were shot in the crossfire.”

Images from a surveillance camera above a bar revealed chaos when the shots broke out, with people running down the street away from the source, The Times-Picayune added.

Police and emergency workers responded at once and saw to the victims while others observed.

New Orleans Police Chief Ronal Serpas said six of the Bourbon Street shooting victims were hospitalized in stable condition. Some were tourists, and names had not been released as of this post.

The shots rang out two blocks from historic Jackson Square “and just around the corner from the popular Pat O’Brien’s piano bar,” AP noted, adding that “Preservation Hall, a music venue dedicated to preserving New Orleans jazz, is also nearby.”

At a news conference, Serpas said the victims were shot “by two cowardly young men trying to hurt each other.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu promised a “swift response” from law enforcement.

“Our No. 1 priority is to keep New Orleans safe,” Landrieu said in a statement. “These kinds of incidents will not go unanswered… I am confident that between video evidence and eyewitness accounts, we will bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Police do not know if the shootings are gang-related, Serpas said, calling on residents, businesses and witnesses who may have video footage, “including any from surveillance cameras,” to contact police.

It was the third major Bourbon Street shooting in as many years.

From the AP report:

“On the Saturday before Mardi Gras, four people were treated at a hospital after a shooting. During Halloween in 2011, one person was killed and seven others were injured after gunmen opened fire on each other.”

Here’s a video that was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday. The shooting occurs at around the 1:30 mark. WARNING: This could be disturbing to many of you.

http://youtu.be/TNpwNiRI3t4

The footage is from YouTube user Charles Walton, who had this to say:

“Look for the Orange colored sign hanging in the top left part of the video. Just to the left of that area is a black and white one way street sign. Watch that street area when the people start running. You will see what appears to be bright flashes from the gun being shot on that street. But guns normally do not have any flashes like this when shot. It is as if an effect like the movies uses was added to the footage to make this look more dramatic. Those that believe in false flags could have field day with this! Some people believe that the shootings across america are staged to get people to support the government taking away our gun rights. After the flashes in this video you see people running away from that area in all directions. I am not one that believes strongly in the false flag theory but I will admit that this footage is very creepy to watch!”

Readers, do things like this latest Bourbon Street shooting make you more alert when going out in public? Share your reactions to that and the video below.

[Image via Jorg Hackemann / Shutterstock.com]