New Orleans’ first homicide of year comes just four hours into 2023

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A city that just finished 2022 with at least 280 homicides -- New Orleans’ highest total since 1996 -- didn’t wait long for its first of 2023.

New Orleans police found a 30-year-old man shot multiple times Sunday (Jan. 1) at 4:03 a.m. in the 1600 block of Clio Street, a Central City neighborhood near the Pontchartrain Expressway.

Despite being taken by New Orleans EMS personnel for treatment, the victim died at the hospital. The man, identified by the parish coroner as 30-year-old Clark Bowdry, became New Orleans’ first homicide victim of 2023 just four hours after the new year began.

More: Violent crime in New Orleans doesn’t relent as 2023 opens

The NOPD was investigating a second shooting early Sunday, after finding an adult male victim downed by multiple gunshot wounds allegedly fired by a tow truck driver in the 4000 block of Tulane Avenue in Mid-City.

The man, reported shot at 5:58 a.m., was taken for hospital treatment in critical condition.

According to police, the 46-year-old truck driver was preparing to tow away an illegally parked vehicle when he was surrounded by “several people.”

The NOPD said someone in the group produced a gun and handed it to another man, telling him to shoot the tow operator. Police said the man pointed the gun at the tow operator while attempting to load the weapon. The tow operator pulled his own gun faster and shot the man threatening him, police said.

No arrests were announced in connection with the incident.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.