Uptown woman held up at gunpoint as suspects try to take her vehicle

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - An Uptown woman says two people ambushed her with a gun as she unloaded her car Wednesday morning. The victim says she’s shaken but thankful she’s ok after the gunmen weren’t able to get into her SUV and took off. But, her neighbors on Octavia Street say they are fed up with living in fear.

“This is a beautiful neighborhood and we’re all scared,” Uptown resident Mary Lucy Lane said.

Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday (April 19) morning, Lane heard her next-door neighbor screaming her name. The woman, who doesn’t want to be identified for her safety, had just gotten home from running errands.

The victim explains, “I was getting out of my car with my dry cleaning and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded and someone was pointing a gun at me and saying, give me your keys, give me your keys.”

Lane’s surveillance video shows what happened on Octavia Street, blocks from St. Charles Avenue. She explained how the victim was walking to her front door when the suspects in a blue sedan stopped in the middle of the street and ran toward her.

“I think two and then there must have been a getaway guy, but maybe more, I really don’t know,” the victim said.

She continues, “Ultimately, I ended up throwing my keys in the street and they ran and they got them and they tried to get my car but I gave them my house keys because those were the keys that were in my hand.”

As the suspects fumbled with the keys, trying to get into the victim’s SUV, she ran next door. Within seconds, she says the bright blue sedan took off. Lane ran out front to find the victim.

“As I’m hugging her, I’m dialing 911,” Lane said.

She comments, “It happened so fast, like 30 seconds.”

Police, they say, arrived within minutes. The victim says she’s ok physically, but it takes a toll mentally. She tells us she’s still shocked about the incident and angry. It’s a sentiment shared by her neighbors.

“We’re all tired of this, I mean, we’re tired of it,” Lane said.

Neighbor Claudia Cope adds, “This is yeah, really, really scary because we generally consider this to be a safe neighborhood and this just goes to show you that the crime is creeping into every nook and cranny of the city.”

The victim says she believes the gunmen were teenagers. The NOPD says it’s investigating the incident, calling it an attempted armed robbery.

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