Five bystanders shot during police shootout in New Orleans

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 2/18/2019, 1:15 p.m.
Five people waiting at a bus stop in New Orleans were shot during a police shootout with a robbery suspect …
Five people waiting at a bus stop in New Orleans were shot during a police shootout with a robbery suspect Sunday, police said.

By Deanna Hackney and Susannah Cullinane, CNN

(CNN) -- Five people waiting at a bus stop in New Orleans were shot during a police shootout with a robbery suspect Sunday, police said.

The suspect was fatally shot by a Louisiana State Police officer at the end of foot chase with gunfire throughout, Chief Shaun Ferguson said.

Ferguson said detectives had been investigating two armed robberies in the city's 6th district when they identified a person of interest near a bus stop at the intersection of Canal Street and Elk Place at 6:43 p.m.

The detectives called uniformed officers to help question the suspect, but when they attempted to engage, the individual pulled out a weapon and began firing, he said.

A detective and one of the officers returned fire and five bystanders -- all adults -- were struck during the exchange of gunfire, Ferguson said. Four were in stable condition. One was in critical condition and required surgery, he said.

The gunfire continued down Elk Place toward Tulane Avenue, where the robbery suspect fired at a state police officer who was responding to the "officer in danger" code, Ferguson said.

The officer returned fire, hitting the suspect, who died at University Hospital, Ferguson said.

The police chief said there was an RTA bus at the bus stop at the time of the gunfight, but no one on the bus was injured.

He said it was too early in the investigation to determine who was shot by whom.

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