Authorities on Monday investigated a shooting in which two people were killed and four others wounded after a Mardi Gras parade in a Mississippi Gulf town, police said.
Advertisement
Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove identified the victims as 29-year-old Carlos Bates of Gulfport, and 43-year-old Isiah Major III of Bay St. Louis.
Officials reportedly say that the shooting happened at the intersection of Davis Avenue and Ladnier Street.
An estimated 50,000 attendees had turned out to the annual St. Paul Carnival Association Mardi Gras parade, according to The Sun Herald. Witnesses reported hearing about a dozen shots fired in all.
The city (population about 5,300) is some 100 kilometers from New Orleans, and annually hosts one of the biggest Mardi Gras parades in the US.
Advertisement
L’Jean McKneely, a Baton Rouge police spokesman, said in an email Sunday to The Associated Press that he knew only that the woman was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. The other two, hit in the right leg and upper chest, respectively, were released after treatment Sunday night, he said. Officers found a handgun in the area and were searching for a suspect or suspects. He said the answer to both was no, and added that the shooting also “had absolutely nothing to do with the parade itself”.
