NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Thursday morning, NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson held a press conference to address gun safety and responsibility. This press conference comes one day after a toddler was shot dead in Hollygrove.
Initial reports from the NOPD show the 2-year-old suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As of Thursday morning, the parents of the child were brought in for questions but have been released. No arrested have been made in this incident.
This incident is just one of several shootings that have taken place this week in the city of New Orleans. Crime rates are rising rapidly and the police are spread thin.
Just 30 minutes before the toddler shooting, the NOPD responded to the intersection of Basin and Bienville streets where three men were also shot.
These two shootings also came shortly after a man was found dead on the side of a road in Central City after having been shot.
Earlier in the week, a local musician, Detroit Brooks, took to social media to announce the devastating loss of his grandson, in his words, “due to gun violence.”
The New Orleans Police Department has been working closely with other agencies and organizations in an attempt to combat the rising crime rates, but it seems to no avail.