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Three people were shot and at least one has died from their injuries following a deadly shooting outside a high school graduation in New Orleans.
New Orleans Police are investigating a triple shooting at Xavier University that left at least one person dead and another two injured around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday (May 31). According to FOX 8 Live, the shooting occurred in a campus parking lot after a graduation ceremony for Morris Jeff High School.
One of the victims, identified only as an elderly woman, was taken to a local hospital but was pronounced deceased. The other two victims, both male, were also transported to a local hospital for treatment on non life-threatening injuries to the leg and shoulder. The identities of all three victims have not been released.
NOPD Deputy Sgt. Christopher Goodly said the "senseless act of violence" began with an argument between two females in the parking lot. The fighting grew more intense until shots rang out. The woman killed in the shooting is believed to have been an innocent bystander, the news outlet reports.
"This is a horrific tragedy on what should be a day of celebration for our seniors, but Morris Jeff is a strong school community and we will unite to help each other heal," said Patricia Perkins, head of school at Morris Jeff. "Every day, we teach our children to solve their differences with their words and to be compassionate toward each other. Our graduates will make a different in this world because they learn to see each other as equal human beings. This resolve is only stronger after today's violence."
The deadly incident comes one week after a tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults. New Orleans Public Schools superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. said that the graduates had their "optimism ripped apart by gun violence" on a day they were set to "bask in the brightness of their futures."
"This has to stop. We must come together as a community, as a country, and address the damage caused by access to guns and to get to the root of the anger and despair that compels individuals to even think of harming others. All our children have a right to be safe and we must do all we can in our power to protect that right," said Henderson. "My heart breaks for the families of the victims, and I implore us all to rally around them in their time of need."
At least three people have been detained for questioning, but as of 4 p.m., no arrests have been made. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to call NOPD Homicide Det. Miles Guirreri at 504-658-5300. You can also call Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans anonymously at 504-822-1111.