Fourth-year Tulane Medical School student Peter Gold was driving on Magazine Street at 4 a.m. Friday when he spotted a woman being carried against her will to a nearby car on St. Mary Street. He backed up and turned against traffic on St. Mary, pulling up to the woman – by now crumpled on the sidewalk โ and rushed to her aid, cellphone in hand.
As he crouched at her side, the man who had been carrying her moments before jumped out of a light-colored sport utility vehicle with a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at Goldโs face.
He pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. Lowering the weapon, he shot Gold in the stomach.
Gold fell to the ground, wincing, and the man pointed the gun at his head a second time and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed again.
Twice more, the assailant tried to shoot Gold in the head. Each time, the gun jammed, and the man glanced furtively over his shoulder, shaking the malfunctioning weapon.
Finally, he gave up, jumped in his vehicle and sped away, leaving the gut-shot good Samaritan and the woman the man had tried to abduct behind him on the sidewalk.
The chilling footage, captured by a private security camera positioned overhead, was turned over Friday morning to the New Orleans Police Department. As of Friday evening, the department said the shooter was still at large, and Gold was in guarded condition, surrounded by family and friends at University Medical Center. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Tulane University is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and indictment of the assailant.
The woman, whom police did not identify, was treated for minor injuries and released.
