Man shot by security officer in French Quarter
New Orleans LA May 29 2017 A man was wounded during a shooting in the French Quarter late Saturday night (May 27) near the intersection of St. Louis and Chartres streets, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
A witness said the man was shot by a security officer during a scuffle outside the Louisiana Supreme Court on St. Louis Street.
Dylan Coggins, who works as a food runner at the Original Pierre Maspero’s near the shooting scene, said he was walking by the courthouse when he saw a security guard struggling to arrest a man who “looked belligerent.”
Somehow, Coggins said, the man wrestled the security officer to the ground and lay on top of him, at which point the security guard shot the man. Coggins said he heard just one shot.
“After that, I just bolted,” he said. “I’m still a little shaken up. Not the first shots I’ve ever heard, but definitely close.”
By midnight, NOPD officers assisted by mounted units and Louisiana State Police deputies were investigating the scene outside the courthouse. Officers blocked St. Louis Street from Chartres to Royal streets with crime tape.
Several onlookers watched the scene as police investigated. Among them were Gary Walker and Max Brown, a couple visiting from England. They had just arrived to their hotel across from the shooting scene when they saw a swarm of police activity.
“I’ve never been this close to a situation where there’s been a shooting,” Brown said. “To have something kick off here instead of Bourbon Street, that’s something of an alarm, isn’t it?”
Police had not indicated the condition of the victim as of 12:30 a.m. Sunday. No additional information was immediately available in an alert issued by police around 11:30 p.m.
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