Four People Shot, One Critically Injured At New Orleans Mardi Gras Celebration

Four people have been shot during Mardi Gras celebrations in the US city of New Orleans, according to police. One male is critically injured and undergoing surgery.

The three other victims – one man and two women – are suffering from non life-threatening graze wounds.

The shooting took place on the crowded Bourbon Street around 9:30pm local time as the French Quarter was packed with tourists and locals taking part in the festivities.

“Everyone immediately started running and the cops immediately started running towards where people were running from,” 21-year-old Patrick Clay told the Times-Picayune.

“I was with a group of about seven people and at that point we all just kind of grasped hands and made our way through the crowd as soon as possible. We were pretty scared, but at that point, I was just more worried about taking care of my friends,” he said.

The incident occurred outside of a strip club. New Orleans’ WWL-TV reported that police had obtained surveillance video from a nearby establishment as part of the investigation.

Detectives are currently looking for suspects.

Robertson said police believe they know the motive behind the shooting, but do not want to release the information at this time.

New Orleans Mardi Gras is an annual two-week-long festival that takes place throughout the city sometime between the end of January and the beginning of March. Hundreds of thousands of tourists arrive in the city from the US and abroad to watch spectacular parades and to party on Bourbon Street, known for its drinking establishments.

Image from Twitter/@MHernandezWWL

 Image from Twitter/@MHernandezWWL