Nine people were caught in the crossfire when two men shot at each other early Sunday on the city's always-crowded Bourbon Street in the celebrated French Quarter, according to Reuters.
Images captured from a surveillance camera above a bar showed people running down the famous street in the chaos of the shooting at 2:45 a.m., Reuters reported. Police and emergency workers responded immediately and attended to victims as other revelers looked on.
It was the third major shooting on Bourbon Street in the last three years, according to Reuters.
New Orleans Police Chief Ronal Serpas said six victims were hospitalized in stable condition, according to Reuters. Some of the victims were tourist, but no information on them or their condition was available.
Serpas said at a news conference in the French Quarter that the victims were shot "by two cowardly young men trying to hurt each other, Reuters reported. "What happened was two young men got angry at each other and shot at each other," he said.
Bourbon Street is a nightly swirl of bright neon and tourists, usually with beverages in hand, according to Reuters. A blend of jazz joints, strip clubs, bars and restaurants, Bourbon Street has everything from four-star dining to sex shows.
"Our No. 1 priority is to keep New Orleans safe," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement, Reuters reported. "These kinds of incidents will not go unanswered ... I am confident that between video evidence and eyewitness accounts, we will bring the perpetrators to justice."
Police have not determined whether the shootings might be gang-related, Serpas said, according to Reuters. He called on residents, businesses and witnesses who may have video footage, including any from surveillance cameras, to contact police.
