NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three brothers and a friend were killed in a neighborhood not far from the French Quarter, and a fifth person was gunned down in a separate incident hours later, authorities said Saturday.
The shootings were the latest round of killings as the city struggles to rein in drug- and gang-related violence that has shadowed the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
In mid-June, Gov. Kathleen Blanco sent the Louisiana National Guard and state police to New Orleans to help fight crime there after five teenagers were shot to death in a single attack.
Such sensational murders have a crippling effect on the city's struggle to rebuild its tourism industry and persuade evacuees to return, said New Orleans City Councilman James Carter, who heads the council's committee on crime.
So far this year there have been 77 homicides in New Orleans.