New Orleans, Bourbon Street Shooting Between Tourist Leads to Death

An argument between two tourists erupted into gunfire that killed one and injured nine others in New Orleans, Police Chief Michael Harrison told reporters on Sunday night.

The shooting occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of Bourbon and Iberville streets in the city’s French Quarter, Harrison said. Harrison said more than three dozen officers were patrolling the French Quarter at the time because of the Bayou Classic, a weekend celebration that draws thousands to the city.

Harrison said police are still looking for the two suspects who fled after the shooting. Demontris Toliver, a 25-year-old New Orleans native, was killed, while two women and seven men were injured. None of the victims were intended targets, Harrison said.

Toliver was a tattoo artist who lived and worked in Baton Rouge, sources said he was a New Orleans Center for Creative Arts graduate with a “promising future.”

“To say the least, this is an unconscionable act,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters during a news conference Sunday night. “It continues to put an exclamation point on the death and destruction that gun violence has played in the streets on New Orleans. It’s almost impossible to understand.”

Harrison said the two suspects got into an argument after running into each other on Bourbon Street. He said the men’s dispute began before they arrived in New Orleans.

Two other men, including one of the victims, have been arrested for illegal possession of a firearm.

“We’ve made a strong message that this was not the place or time to bring firearms to the French Quarter during the Bayou Classic event or any event,” Harrison said at a news conference early on Sunday morning. “This was not something that should’ve happened. This is the wrong place to bring firearms. We’ve made that clear.”

Harrison said police have arrested 11 people, including the two on Sunday, in the past two days for illegally carrying weapons. The other arrests were not connected to the shooting.

Few details about the victims are available, except that their ages range from 20 to 37. Harrison said that five have been released from the hospital and the remaining four are expected to recover.

No further information about the suspects has been released. It is unclear how many shots were fired, but Harrison said several shell casings were found on the ground.

Police shut down Bourbon Street between Iberville and Canal streets after the shooting, according to the Times-Picayune.