NEW ORLEANS – A New Orleans man is recovering after he was shot in the back as he rode along Bullard Avenue with his cycling club.
Chris Weiss, a member of the Semi-Tough Cycling Club, was among a group of nine riders making their way down Bullard back to Hayne Boulevard in New Orleans East when someone opened fire on May 13.
A fellow club member who was riding next to Weiss when he was shot reported hearing “a concussive sound” before Weiss was hit, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.
Weiss “arched his back in pain and came to a stop” after being hit in the “oblique/kidney area,” according to the post.
Initial reports by the NOPD described the projectile that struck Weiss as a pellet or BB, but later reports said Weiss had been struck by a bullet.
Fellow riders applied pressure to the wound, and Weiss was transported to an area hospital for treatment.
“It was such a nice ride, and a beautiful morning,” Weiss said in a text message to the rest of his group. “It’s really unfortunate that there are people out there willing to play games with people’s lives.”
Two other members of the cycling group have been shot by paintball guns recently, according to Semi-Tough founder and president Townsend Myers.
“This is the third and most serious time a club member has been shot while riding through the city,” Myers said. “We’re beginning to feel like we’ve got targets on our backs. We need the NOPD to step up, find these criminals and help send a clear message that this is unacceptable.”
The Semi-tough plans to work with a group called BikeLaw Louisiana to ensure the NOPD “responds appropriately to the string of incidents,” according to a press release from the club.
