Gun battle, car break-ins rattle St. Claude-St. Roch neighborhoods after Chewbacchus parade

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A gunfight involving a 15-year-old and numerous reports of car burglaries marred Carnival festivities for some in the St. Claude and St. Roch neighborhoods after Saturday night’s Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus parade.

New Orleans police confirmed one teen was arrested after he arrived to seek hospital treatment for a gunshot wound. Investigators determined the 15-year-old was “a perpetrator” in a gun battle that broke out around 11:07 p.m. near the Mag’s 940 bar in the 900 block of Elysian Fields Avenue.

According to the NOPD, three suspects allegedly opened fire on someone who returned fire before the suspects fled. The person who said he was the targeted victim of the attack was not injured.

After receiving hospital treatment, the 15-year-old suspect was booked into the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated criminal damage to property.

Anyone with additional information on the gun battle is asked to contact NOPD’s Eighth District detectives at (504) 658-6080 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

Meanwhile, numerous parade goers reported to police and on social media that they returned to cars parked near the St. Roch Market to find their vehicle windows smashed and belongings taken. The busy stretch along St. Claude Avenue usually is crowded during the parade, but this year was cut from the route when city officials shortened the procession, citing a lack of police officers who accepted off-duty details to work the event.

The NOPD did not immediately say how many vehicles were struck during the Chewbacchus festivities. But at one point Sunday morning, radio traffic indicated at least 23 car burglary victims were waiting for Fifth District officers to take their reports.

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