1 KILLED, 4 HURT IN SHOOTING AHEAD OF MARDI GRAS

One person has died after he and four others were shot in New Orleans on Sunday night along the route of a parade that is part of the leadup to Mardi Gras, the police said Monday.

The shooting happened near the intersection of St. Charles Avenue and Terpsichore Street, Karen A. Boudrie, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, said Sunday. It was reported at about 9:30 p.m. during the Krewe of Bacchus Parade, which had started in the afternoon.

One person was taken into custody at the scene “within moments” of the shooting, Michelle Woodfork, the interim superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, said at a news conference Monday.

Mansour Mbodj, 21, was charged with illegal carrying of a weapon, Woodfork said. Two guns were recovered, and police were investigating whether shots had been fired by more than one person.

The victims were taken to a hospital, Woodfork said.

The victim who died was “a male between the ages of 15 and 18 years old” whom police have yet to identify, she said. The other victims — a 4-year-old girl, an 18-year-old man, a 22-year-old woman and a 24-year-old woman — have all been released from the hospital, she said.

The Krewe of Bacchus, with more than 1,600 members and 32 floats, holds its parade each year on the Sunday before Mardi Gras. The parade traditionally ends with a black-tie party that attracts more than 9,000 attendees.

As of Sunday, the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that tracks gun violence, has counted 79 mass shootings in the United States in 2023.