Five shot in French Quarter bar

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A lone gunman wounded five people early Tuesday morning in a bar in New Orleans' French Quarter.

This shooting is only the latest violence to take place in New Orleans, which is having a very hard time controlling crime since being devastated by Huricane Katrina just over a year ago.

The gunman entered Club Decatur - a micro brewery popular with the many service industry workers in the French Quarter - at about 12:30am Tuesday and shot 3 men. Two women were also wounder by bullet fragments. None of the injuries are considered to be life threatening. A motive for the shooting is still unknown at this time, and police are still searching for a suspect in the shootings.

The Big Easy has seen a rise in violent crimes since huricane evacuees begin to return to the city. Both the National Guard and state police have been helping New Orleans try to get a grasp on the violent crime uprising since the murder of 6 people in one day in June, and they will continue on through December and the holiday season.

Although most of the violence in New Orleans has been in non-tourist areas, this shooting took place on a popular corner of the French Quarter where many tourists flock to venues such as The House of Blues, a couple doors down from Club Decatur.