Police in New Orleans searched on Monday for a motive and suspect or suspects in a shooting that wounded 17 people in a crowd of several hundred who had gathered for a weekend block party and music video filming.
It was too soon to say whether there were multiple gunmen who opened fire Sunday evening at a playground in the city’s Upper 9th Ward, said New Orleans Police Department spokesman Frank Robertson.
“We do believe that there was a group of individuals shooting at each other,” Robertson said.
The discovery of an additional victim raised the number of wounded to 17, he said on Monday. The initial 16 people reported as injured suffered either a “direct gunshot wound” or a “graze wound” and had all been listed in stable condition.
The incident unfolded at about 6:15 p.m. Central Time at Bunny Friend Park, following a community “second line” parade that ended a few blocks away earlier in the day, police said.
A large crowd was gathered in the park at the time for an unpermitted block party and the impromptu filming of a music video, according to police.
Two groups began shooting at each other and then immediately ran from the scene, witnesses told police.
The city’s police chief and mayor were scheduled to discuss the shooting at a news conference Monday afternoon.
