NEW ORLEANS — Despite calls for peace, violence is escalating in New Orleans.
Monday morning, the New Orleans Police Department received a call around 4 a.m. about a shooting in the in 8600 block of Chase Street in the Little Woods neighborhood. When they got there, a man was found shot dead inside a home.
A neighbor, too afraid to show her face, says she fears for her life.
“I had a cousin to get shot on this very street and for that to happen to my family member, right down the street, and now this across the street, this tragedy to this family. What are we gonna’ do?” said Sabrina, a neighbor who didn’t want to give her last name.
The early morning murder happening just 24 hours after a mass shooting in New Orleans East.
It happened on the 10000 block of I-10 Service Road. Nine people were hurt, including two juveniles.
The bloody weekend followed Saturday’s “Let Me Live” rally, where families of gun violence victims and local leaders called for an end to the bloodshed.
Kenisha Martin, whose daughter Kaylan Ward was murdered in 2015, spoke at Saturday’s rally
She says for those committing these murders, it’s only a matter of time until the tables turn.
“The worst feeling you want to leave your parent with is having to plan your funeral. I need them to understand their doing the violence. That violence can come right back on them, then your parent is feeling the same way that another parent is feeling,” said Martin.
So, why is the violence getting worse? Experts believe covid has a lot to do with it.
“An unfortunate reality of people taking advantage of the restored sense of freedom, sense of normalcy,” said Dr. Silas Lee, a sociologist and pollster with Xavier University.
Dr. Lee adds that the violence also has to do with socioeconomic issues, policing, community involvement and mental health. He says until all of those factors work together, the violence will inevitably continue.