Mid-day gunfire in Downtown New Orleans sends 19-year-old to hospital

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A 19-year-old man is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds sustained in the middle of the afternoon in one of the city’s most popular downtown areas.

“I literally want to go. I don’t feel safe, honestly,” said Yasmeen Husein. “I just want to go home.”

Husein was sitting in her parked car when bullets were fired in the back parking lot of the Canal Place shopping center. New Orleans police say the teenager was driving a green Dodge Challenger. He was shot at, suffering a graze wound to the forehead and a hit through his hand, before jumping out of the moving car and running away. The challenger rear-ended Husein and her friend.

“I thought it was the popping noise of the car, and then I got hit and later on they said it was gunshots. It went off like 7 times,” said Husein. “He jumped off midway and he just hit it, I’m confused. I see him jump out and he runs down Canal Street and I called the cops. No one even talked to me, number one. They just left me.”

The scene was cleared four hours later when James Calhoun paid for his parking space.

He was visiting Downtown for a concert at the Fillmore, across the street from the shooting scene, and had no idea gunfire rang in the parking lot.

“I usually only stay a night and leave,” said Calhoun. “I don’t usually think about it like that but that is really shocking that it happened where I’m at. "

Husein says she was also in the dark, despite being a witness.

“I didn’t even know in the moment what was happening until I checked the news just now,” she said. “I was confused. I didn’t even know.”

Calhoun says he’s making adjustments to his plans.

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“It makes me want to leave a little quicker,” he said. “It’s kind of scary.”

Gun violence creeps toward the city’s most popular tourist sites and brings fear.

“The person next to us is visiting from Kentucky, and this happened to us. I feel bad. I never knew out of all my years living here that this would happen to me.”

Now, Husein is left with damage to her vehicle and a sour memory of a place she once loved.

“I don’t think my parents are going to let me come back either, which sucks,” she said. “This is why I want to leave this city, honestly.”

The shooting victim’s identification has not been made public, but police say he was treated in the hospital and last listed in good condition.

If you know anything to assist officers in their investigation, call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

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