abudabit
07-02-2007, 03:37 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans murder rate spiraled higher over the weekend with four people gunned down and a man stabbed to death in a house. The latest spate pushed the city's murder count to 98, police said.
In adjacent Jefferson Parish, meanwhile, two men were shot to death and another died of stab wounds on Sunday.
Police spokesman Sgt. Joseph Narcisse said "most of the victims surrounding this weekend's violence have criminal records."
One arrest was made in the New Orleans murders. A man, described as a friend of the 26-year-old man killed inside a vehicle early Sunday was arrested Sunday night, police said. That killing came after two shootings Saturday night, including a triple shooting that killed one man and left two others injured.
The first of those slayings occurred shortly after 10 p.m. when police found a 33-year-old New Orleans man dead in a residence with stab wounds to the neck, investigators said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly after 11 p.m. when a 33-year-old man died from several gunshot wounds to his body, said Officer Jonette Williams, a New Orleans police spokeswoman. The man, whose name was withheld, also was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men also were wounded in that attack, but their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Investigators said the three men were sitting on the porch of the house when someone approached and opened fire.
About 1 p.m. Saturday, police said they found a woman who had been fatally shot in the head lying in the driveway of an apartment complex. Investigators said they were unable to identify the victim.
Although Katrina virtually emptied the city of its residents when it hit in August 2005, violent crime has returned with a fury as New Orleans has slowly repopulated.
In 2006, with a population estimated at around 200,000, less than half the pre-Katrina population of 454,000, the city had 161 killings. That's a per capita murder rate of 81 murders per 100,000 people.
The rate was 56 per 100,000 in 2004, when the city had 264 murders.
The latest estimate by a local demographer puts the city's population at about 262,000.
The Rio murder rate is 74 / 100,000.
In adjacent Jefferson Parish, meanwhile, two men were shot to death and another died of stab wounds on Sunday.
Police spokesman Sgt. Joseph Narcisse said "most of the victims surrounding this weekend's violence have criminal records."
One arrest was made in the New Orleans murders. A man, described as a friend of the 26-year-old man killed inside a vehicle early Sunday was arrested Sunday night, police said. That killing came after two shootings Saturday night, including a triple shooting that killed one man and left two others injured.
The first of those slayings occurred shortly after 10 p.m. when police found a 33-year-old New Orleans man dead in a residence with stab wounds to the neck, investigators said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly after 11 p.m. when a 33-year-old man died from several gunshot wounds to his body, said Officer Jonette Williams, a New Orleans police spokeswoman. The man, whose name was withheld, also was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men also were wounded in that attack, but their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Investigators said the three men were sitting on the porch of the house when someone approached and opened fire.
About 1 p.m. Saturday, police said they found a woman who had been fatally shot in the head lying in the driveway of an apartment complex. Investigators said they were unable to identify the victim.
Although Katrina virtually emptied the city of its residents when it hit in August 2005, violent crime has returned with a fury as New Orleans has slowly repopulated.
In 2006, with a population estimated at around 200,000, less than half the pre-Katrina population of 454,000, the city had 161 killings. That's a per capita murder rate of 81 murders per 100,000 people.
The rate was 56 per 100,000 in 2004, when the city had 264 murders.
The latest estimate by a local demographer puts the city's population at about 262,000.
The Rio murder rate is 74 / 100,000.