Twelve people are being treated for gunshot wounds following a shootout at a Mothers’ Day parade in New Orleans. The youngest victim in the surprise attack was 10 years old, according to a local resident.
Over 100 people were participating in the residential festival, on Frenchmen Street, in the north of the city, when several shots were fired. The incident occurred around 2pm local time on Sunday.
Police believe three suspects were responsible for the gunfire.
“The shots just started ringing out, and everybody just started running, and the next thing I heard, 10-15 people got shot,” one witness told local station WDSU.
Police confirmed the number of casualties stood at 12 following some discrepancies in initial hospital reports, suggesting that between five and 11 may have been injured.
No fatalities have been confirmed, but three are reportedly in a critical condition.