Brothers arrested in New Orleans parade shooting
Two brothers with a history of drug arrests and suspected ties to a neighborhood gang each face 20 counts of attempted second-degree murder in a shooting spree that brought a sudden bloody end to a Mother's Day parade in a New Orleans neighborhood, AP reported.
The arrests by city police and U.S. marshals came less than four days after gunfire scattered the crowd and wounded 20 people — 19 hit by bullets and one while trying to flee.
Akein Scott, 19, was arrested without incident late Wednesday at an eastern New Orleans residence. His brother Shawn Scott, 24, was arrested Thursday morning as he tried to flee another residence in the city, police said.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and police Chief Ronal Serpas hailed the police work as proof of officials' determination to end sporadic violence that mars the image of the tourism-dependent city.
"We will not let up," Landrieu said. "We are demanding that the shooting stop. And we will make sure that we do everything in our power, which I hope people now see is substantial, to make sure that we protect the citizens of New Orleans."
A magistrate judge on Thursday morning set bond for Akein Scott at $10 million in the attempted murder case. Another judge ordered him held without bond pending a later hearing on an unrelated gun and weapon charge.
Shawn Scott's court appearances were not yet scheduled. His Thursday morning arrest was announced by Serpas, Landrieu and District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro at a news conference in the middle of the intersection where the shooting took place, off the beaten path for most tourists but less than two miles from the popular French Quarter. Surrounding the officials were dozens of uniformed officers and onlookers from the neighborhood.