Quadruple, double shootings late Saturday prompt officials to address 'startling' uptick in New Orleans violent crime

Six people were shot during two separate incidents in New Orleans late Saturday night, capping a two-day uptick in violence that Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Sunday was "very concerning."

13 shot in New Orleans on Saturday, making it most violent day of 2017, crime analyst saysSix people were shot in two separate incidents in New Orleans late Saturday night, capping a violent day in New Orleans, according to police.

The incidents brought Saturday's total to 13 shooting victims, including three deaths, making it New Orleans' most violent 24-hour period of the year, according to local crime analyst Jeff Asher. The previous record for the number of shootings in one day in 2017 was eight, he said.

Asher said 13 people shot in one day in New Orleans are the per capita equivalent of 90 people being shot in one day in Chicago.

He said New Orleans now has had more than 300 shooting incidents this year, reaching that figure two months sooner than in 2015 or 2016.

The weekend also witnessed more than a dozen armed robberies through early Sunday, including several carjackings.

NOPD: Seven victimized by armed robberies or attempted armed robberies since SaturdayFive people were held up at gunpoint and two were victims of attempted armed robberies during a 24-hour period starting Saturday morning, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

Landrieu addressed the surge of violence at a news conference Sunday afternoon, during which he announced police reinforcements in targeted areas and urged local citizens to curb a "culture of violence" that he said has long plagued the city's residents.

"Sometimes there are moments when the world seems like it has gone crazy," Landrieu said, referring to New Orleans' problems with crime as well as the terrorist attacks that killed six and injured dozens in London on Saturday night.

In New Orleans, the most recent rash of shootings took place within about 30 minutes late Saturday. About 11:10 p.m., the New Orleans Police Department said, four young men were shot in the 6600 block of Foch Road in New Orleans East. The victims were walking away from a party when the shots rang out, police said.

Two 20-year-old men were taken to a hospital by emergency vehicles. Later, police said, two 17-year-olds arrived at a hospital by private conveyance.

About 30 minutes later, two men were shot in the 2900 block of Upperline Street in the Freret neighborhood. Police said the men got into an argument with a neighbor, who took out a gun and shot them.

The victims were taken to a hospital by EMS. Initial reports said one man was shot in the neck and the other in the hip.

New details also emerged about a shooting early Saturday, when gunfire erupted during a large college graduation party in the 3700 block of Tulane Avenue in Mid-City.

Gunfire at Mid-City gathering leaves 2 dead, 3 wounded; recent calm in neighborhood shatteredFor several weeks recently, neighbors said, there had been calm in the section of Mid-City that borders Tulane Avenue on the river side of South Carrollton Avenue and that has been especially troubled by gun violence in recent months.

That incident, which happened about 12:40 a.m., left three dead and two others wounded, police confirmed Sunday.

Neither police nor the Coroner's Office had identified any of the victims, but by Sunday grieving family members had spoken about all three.

Both a relative and a family friend said Sunday that Aaron Melton, 24, who had attended Marrero'sJohn Ehret High School, was one of those killed.

Friends and relatives on Saturday had identified Larry D. King, 25, and 2014 St. Augustine High School graduate Zach Nelson as victims.

An NOPD spokesman said an estimated 200 people were at the party.

Gunfire at Mid-City gathering leaves 2 dead, 3 wounded; recent calm in neighborhood shatteredFor several weeks recently, neighbors said, there had been calm in the section of Mid-City that borders Tulane Avenue on the river side of South Carrollton Avenue and that has been especially troubled by gun violence in recent months.

Police also reported shootings Saturday in the 2200 block of A.P. Tureaud Avenue, about 2:45 a.m., and the 2100 block of South Liberty Street, about 12:20 p.m. One person was wounded in each of those incidents.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said Sunday that when the Tulane Avenue shooting started, members of the NOPD were half a block away because they had been deployed to the Tulane Avenue corridor in an attempt to curb an uptick of violence there over several months.

Landrieu and Harrison said even more officers would be deployed to that part of Mid-City after the weekend's "startling uptick" in crime, calling the increased police presence there part of a larger security plan authorities have been "aggressively" implementing since it was unveiled in January.

Among other tactics, the NOPD is deploying crime cameras in several neighborhoods, tapping resources from TIGER units and a multiagency gang unit, and encouraging officers to use more "proactive" measures, including traffic stops in targeted hot-spot crime areas, Harrison said.

The chief said his officers were particularly focused on getting guns off the streets, underscoring that his department confiscated 41 "just this week." Harrison said 777 guns have been taken off the streets so far this year, a 21 percent increase from last year.

The NOPD also has had a 25 percent increase in gun arrests from this time last year, he said.

Like Harrison, Landrieu urged the public to help police by calling in more crime tips.

Landrieu also said, however, that the city's residents need to do a better job of curbing a culture of violence that he said has been exacerbated by excessive alcohol, an ongoing opioid crisis and general drug use.

How bad is New Orleans' surge of shootings, violence in 2017? Here are 5 eye-opening factsAfter a violent Saturday, in New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu addressed a news conference acknowledging the "underlying problem" of crime in the city.

"We have historically been and we continue to be a very violent city," Landrieu said. "And if we are going to change the culture of violence in this city, we have to change who we are, how we are and how we act. And I'm talking about house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, church to church and community to community."

Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed to this report.