Monday, December 31, 2007

NOMB Year in Review

Old-Time Project Overview:

When we started, we didn't know why we were compelled to continue. It sure didn't improve our spelling or help us sleep at night. It didn't make us feel better about anything at all really. More than anything, we decided, NOMB wanted to contextualize murders in the city. To watch them pile up in one place. You wouldn't have to scour the back pages of the metro, sort out who died where. Maybe we really did it to give our editors, and their wit, a cathartic outlet. To comment on current attitudes towards death in the country’s murder capital.

For whatever reason we did it, we did all that to our satisfaction mostly. Except when the killings came too fast for us to record. Or when our lives kept us too busy to follow the bodies. Or when it was just too much for us to bear.

Fruition:
The real result of the project was, thankfully, much more enlightening than anything we could have hoped for. What we learned from NOMB we learned from our vigilant monitoring of site statistics. NOMB has, from its incept, watched where our visitors came from and how they found our site through web searches.

In the beginning, all our visitors were from out of town. Seattle, New York, Texas all checked in. Upon further inspection though, most of these visitors found our site by searching proper names of streets and victims. It became apparent that these people were friends, residents, and family members spread out across the country, desperate for information about their loved ones.

Slowly, the locals discovered the project. Visitors from inside the city came to learn more about the murky murder culture that existed minutes from their quiet Marigny homes. Their nice Carrolton blocks. We started getting emails asking us to confirm reports of shots fired. Questions about investigations. Our URL appeared on legitimate site, touted as a alternative source on crime in the city. Now, we get an even split of visitors to the site, foreign hits as well as ones from home.

The Truth:
NOMB knew nothing beyond what we heard and read, had gleamed with our eyes, or imagined as we sat in our camelback and conspired to flee with fear from this wild west remake.

And NOLA didn’t let us down.

As the year ends, men with guns chase men in sneakers down Banks St. Prostitutes appear dead under docks and the East Bank violence continues to seep into West Bank burbs. The sheriff dies and the outlaws seize the moment of confusion to let their guns blaze. We had a woman chopped up and cooked (was that this year? No one remembers it seems). We had five kids gunned down in Central City in one moment and a boy paraded as the devil responsible across the papers. News Casters in white beards murdered their ungrateful ex-wives (again, was that this year?). FEMA trailer arson and good old street vengeance.

So turn on Brother Jess on Sunday Morning and listen to Sam Cooke sing gospel, New Orleans. Let the organs bleed through the floor boards into the mud beneath the house and get ready for whatever comes next.

Last One

So forgo the commentary:


About 6:30 p.m., police received a call of a man shot in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Sixth District officers found a 15-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his leg, police said. Paramedics took the boy to a local hospital.


About 7:45 p.m., 7th District officers responded to another call of a man shot, this time in eastern New Orleans.
Officers found a man, whose age was not available, in the 6800 block of Parc Brittany Boulevard with a gunshot wound to his upper torso, police said. He was being treated on the scene.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Getting It In Under The Gun

So ends year one of NOMB. The official number hovers somewhere around 210-216 depending on the source, and if you add in the 44 murders in JP, you see a pretty big number. But who really cares? The fact is, each one of these people died alone and scared, just like everyone of us will some day, whether we are shot, stabbed, have a heart attack, are bludgeoned to death, or slip on the stairs. And, no matter how dirty, cracked out, crooked, or immoral the deceased was in life, there is still someone out there waiting for them to come home.
NOMB began as a one yeat project, but the editors have decided to continue the project for 2008, although it may experience some mutations. Also, NOMB year wrap up coming tomorrow.

But enough of that. Lets get down to business.

French Quarter Murder Update:
By now, ya'll must have heard. The dead woman beneath the pier turned out to be a prostitute, or at least is being billed as such in the papers. That murmur you hear coming from the river is not the barge, but the collective sigh of relief from the French Quarters hospitality industry.

A New Orleans man was fatally shot in Marrero on Friday evening, said Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
Just before 5:30, deputies responded to a call of gun fire near the corner of Ames Boulevard and Charleston Drive, Fortunato said.
Deputies found the body of a man, appearing to be about 21 years old, from New Orleans dead with a gunshot wound. The shooting was the 44th murder in Jefferson Parish this year


Nothing like men running down the street shooting:

A man was shot outside a Mid-City restaurant Friday night after a brief foot chase, eyewitnesses said.
Two men were seen chasing two others at about 8:15 p.m. in the 3900 block of Banks Street. The men in pursuit fired at those running away, hitting one outside Mona's restaurant.


Saturday's Special:
Shortly after 4 p.m., 4th District officers responded to a report of a man shot in the 3100 block of Mansfield Avenue. The officers found a man with a gunshot wound to his chest.
The victim, Clayton Johnson Jr., 22, died on the way to University Hospital.


In the other incident, a Tallulah man was shot outside a Gretna nightclub in the early morning. At about 3:30 a.m., Gretna police received a report of shots at Ceasar's Nightclub, 209 Monroe St. Christiana said officers learned that a yellow Ford Mustang was involved. They spotted it a short distance away, speeding south on Franklin Avenue near Porter Street.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Breaking News

The radio is reporting that police have discovered a body on the corner of St. Louis and Decatur, right in the heart of the French Quarter. All they'll say is that it's a woman and it's murder.
Last night on the news, local stations ran a fluff piece to contradict the negative press NOLA is getting in the island state. Hawai'i publications are issuing warnings to travelers on their way here for the Sugar Bowl.
The only thing NOMB can hope for from this latest murder, smack dab in tourist central,is that the body was dumped. Or maybe, it was personal. The murder of a tourist in the Quarters is, well, we all know what that is. Especially with the BSC Bowl Championship, the NBA Allstar game, and Mardi Gras all lined up in the coming months.

Also, in regular news...

Shortly after 7:30 p.m., New Orleans police officers responded to a call of a man shot in the 2400 block of South Robertson Street. Sixth District officers found the man with a gunshot wound to his leg.

In Jefferson Parish, a man was shot in the 1000 block of Whitney Avenue in an unincorporated area near Gretna just before 9 p.m.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

It Won't Ever Make Front Page, But

We still put it first over here at NOMB.

A 19-year-old man was shot twice in the head Wednesday morning in the 8800 block of Olive Street in Hollygrove, a New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman said.

The man was "still talking and still living" at a New Orleans hospital, officer Sabrina Richardson said Wednesday afternoon.


"Still Talking and Still Living."

This is our new mantra over here at the offices of NOMB. The editors huddle up each morning and repeat it fifteen times before we break for the door.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Relief

Yesterday, NOMB worked in the rain, dealt with the TV cameras, fought off that nasty stomach stuff that everyone below Canal St. is dealing with, and managed to make it up to Touro to see a brand new baby boy born at 10:15.

So when we saw this story, it made us feel a little better. It let us know we weren't the only ones working on Christmas:

Two people were killed and four others were wounded in a brazen Christmas night shooting in Central City that left dozens of bullets from an assault rifle scattered across the 2400 block of Josephine Street shortly before 6:30 p.m., police said.
Dozens of neighborhood residents flocked to what they described as a notoriously violent street. They stared aghast at scene. They yelled for divine intervention, and for the police officers to let them see the wounded.
A pair of young men tried to rush the crime scene by running through the police tape. They were turned back by officers.
Those who survived the attack faired as followed:
An 22-year-old man was taken to the hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the neck and leg, said Jeb Tate, spokesman for New Orleans Emergency Medical Services.
An 18-year-old man was shot in the leg. A woman, 19, was shot in the knee. And a man, 17, was shot in the arm, Tate said.


Oh well.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

While Ya'll Slept...

NOMB is out in the rain, making sure people got a place to go for all their crime needs. Like this gem:

The fact that a young father was holding his 2-year-old son in his arms didn't deter a robber from carrying out her crime Saturday night in Central City.
The robber used the situation to her advantage: She put a gun to the child's head, probably to make sure her demand for money was met by his father.


Some kids get bikes, some get video games, this two-year-old got indoctrinated into the oldest club in NOLA, and we don't mean the NOAC.

And we thought we had it bad having to work the holidays with a stomach virus in the cold...

Two men were shot Monday afternoon in the West Carrollton neighborhood, New Orleans police said.
Shortly after 3 p.m., 2nd District officers responding to a call of a male down found the men in the 8400 block of Hickory Street, near the corner of Joliet Street.New Orleans EMS paramedics took one victim to a hospital with gunshot wounds to his upper torso, police said. The second victim, who was shot in the leg, drove himself to another hospital.


Our only question is, when did the environmental branding of Pigeon Town into "West Carrolton" take place. Maybe we're reading our map wrong.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Stories and Missed Connections

In a house on the corner of N. Dorgenois and Ozanga, NOMB has the following conversation with a homeowner...
"Your volunteers put these holes right here," says the woman, pointing at three spots in the drywall, all of them clustered
together about 24 inches off the floor. She moves to the next wall and
points to three similar clustered holes on the opposite wall.
"And these ones right here too," she says. "You gonna fix them up?"
NOMB gets down on our haunches and inspect the problem areas.
"Ma'am," we say, checking the trajectory across the room. "Our volunteers didn't shoot at your house."

Saturday:

Shortly
after 9 p.m., police received a report of shots fired and found the
21-year-old woman on the sidewalk near the corner of NorthDorgenois and Onzaga streets suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the back.


Friday:

Jesse Jones, 58, of New Orleans, died Friday at 7:29 p.m. during
emergency surgery at University Hospital's trauma center, said chief
coroner's investigator JohnGagliano, who released Jones' identity Saturday.
Unlike most victims of shooting deaths, who die from handgun wounds, Jones suffered shotgun wounds, Gagliano said. At least four shotgun shells were found at the scene.
Jones died about 45 minutes after New Orleans police received a call of a man down near the corner of Fourth and Danneel streets
.


Just for the record, if there were gonna be two murders this weekend it should have been Devry Henderson and Billy Miller. What the hell guys? Catch the ball!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Par for the Corse

Light 'em up NOLA

1)New Orleans police are investigating a fatal shooting between Napoleon and Jefferson avenues Tuesday night.
The victim's name, age and hometown were not immediately released.
The slaying occurred about 8:30 p.m. at South Liberty and Valence streets, midway between St. Charles Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue


2)Earlier Tuesday, a man was shot in the Lower Garden District, police said.
That shooting occurred about 4:50 p.m. at Race and Chippewa streets. The man was taken to a hospital, but his condition was not immediately known.


His condition, actually folks, was, "shot"

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Close To Home


While NOMB was trying to rally the troops (20 Georgia Tech students)to work on a house in the 900 block of N. Prieur yesterday morning, this was going on.

An NOPD officer was shot in the hand Monday morning while investigating a burglary at a Treme resource center.

Since this whole action was less than two blocks away, you can imagine the visitors curiosity at the 20 tactical cop cars swarming our street.
"just don't leave the property," we tell them.
All in all, the nonsense delayed work for almost 2 hours. The man driving the truck that deposited our construction dumpster said," Don't worry, when I saw the address on my worksheet, I brought my pistol."

Monday, December 17, 2007

You Know

Proximity Rating: 4 (luckily we broke up wih the girl who lived near here. Now we hardly travel this far Uptown)
A man was found dead, presumably shot, after 3 a.m. today in the 1700 block of Seventh Street in New Orleans. Police said they were called by someone reporting gunshots and discovered the body in the street less than two blocks off St. Charles Avenue. The man was pronounced dead at the scene
Presumably shot...

Proximity Rating: 2
A 54-year-old Harvey man was in stable condition at University Hospital on Saturday afternoon after he was shot in the arm in New Orleans' St. Claude neighborhood, authorities said.
New Orleans police responded around 1:30 p.m., to a report of shots fired in the 1200block of Poland Avenue


He enters the numbers.
A man who was shot during a robbery in eastern New Orleans last month has died, the Orleans Parish coroner's office said Saturday.
Sheldon Dean, 28, was robbed as he was getting out of his vehicle at his apartment complex in the 10700 block of Roger Drive on Nov. 25 about 4 a.m., New Orleans police said. Two strangers with guns took Dean's jewelry and money, then shot him, police said.
Dean died Friday at 8 p.m. in University Hospital of a gunshot wound to the face

Friday, December 14, 2007

Thursday: A Day of Randomness

Criminality takes a Hollywood cue. While this kind of nonsense plays out great in the ppicture shows, NOMB can't understand why a security guard would waste rounds and endanger us by protecting so bullshit armored car. And then, not even stop them.

Three men in ski masks with assault rifles at their sides pulled off a highly choreographed armored-truck heist late Thursday morning and exchanged gunfire with a security guard outside a bank in the bustling Riverbend neighborhood.

The holdup was strictly a professional affair, authorities said. The robbery crew, dressed in dark clothing, carried guns fit for warfare.


Front Page Stuff: Baton Rouge gets a taste
LSU Police on Friday were investigating the murders of two students on the college campus.The victims, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, international Ph.D. students at LSU, were found inside an apartment at the Edward Gay complex. The apartments are next to the LSU Band practice field.

Just like yesterday's bodies on the northshore, NOMB has this tingle in our bones.
And PS..
We're posting this paragraph, not cuz its news to us, but becasue come on, this is one of the worst paragraphs the TP has cranked out in a good while.

It is uncertain whether two Georgia men knew it was their last supper, but they both ate within an hour of being shot to death "execution style" and eventually dumped alongside Interstate 12 in western St. Tammany Parish, authorities said Thursday.


Seriously Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, what the hell kind of copy is this. You aint in a James Elroy novel.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Speculation

Now, it's not like NOMB to make guesses, but something about this execution-style scenario sounds like its got some NOLA routes, even though the bodies are on the North Shore. We mean, come on, the last time we were up there everyone was so friendly and obliging you'd have thought it was the mid-west.

Amid typical roadside debris such as fast-food containers and cigarette butts, the bullet-punctured bodies of two men were discovered Wednesday morning a few miles apart alongside Interstate 12 in western St. Tammany Parish.
Both victims had been shot and dumped out of a car


To all ya'll working in the field today, don't forget, when you got no tread, you slip:

A 44-year-old Slidell man working inside a house in the 3700 block of Rosetta Drive was robbed at gunpoint about 1:30 p.m. by two men who entered through a side door, sheriff's deputies said.

About 10 minutes later, a man painting inside his house in the 2100 block of East Beauregard Street reported that he was robbed at gunpoint by two men who demanded his wallet, Sanders said
.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Sending Help for the Help

NOMB send out best wishes to the three men who mugged, shot at, caught, and finally pistol whipped two Americorp down here in NOLA to work in the Recovery School District. What great people we have here sometimes. The only surprise in this little Wednesday tragedy is that is happened over on Clio, and not in the halls of one of those detention centers we're trying to pass off as houses of education.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Worker's Rights

While the Hispanic Forum over on the second floor of the Howard Avenue Catholic Charities building fumbles around with its "Immigrant Bill of Rights", the ones on the streets, working jobs with no licenses and taking the pistol whippings over on N Prieur, continue to be top target for stuff like this...

1) Proximity Rating: 3 (We may not work in the East, but we're on the job with cash, and that's close enough)
Alejandro Pecina Ruiz, 42, a Mexican citizen, and his nephew, were working in a first-floor apartment in a vacant apartment building under renovation at 8017 Trapier Ave. About 2:15 p.m., a gunman walked in and demanded money. Ruiz and his nephew, 22, complied, but the man shot them and escaped.
Ruiz died in the apartment, and his nephew collapsed just outside the gate to the complex. He was taken to a hospital. An autopsy showed Ruiz suffered a gunshot wound to the neck.


The worst thing is that all this stuff is backpage business for the Times-Picayune
2) Let it stand, for the record, that NOMB thinks this number is at least 6 off, if not more,
A teenager was shot dead Saturday afternoon in Algiers, bringing New Orleans' murder total for the year to about 200. Aaron Williams, 17, of New Orleans, died Saturday at about 4:45 p.m. after a shooting, in the 5900 block of Tullis Drive in Algiers, that also left a woman wounded.

3)Proximity Rating: 10
In the Gert Town case, the coroner's office identified the victim as George Hankton III, 40, of New Orleans. Hankton and two other men were shot Friday about 5:45 p.m. in the 7800 block of Oleander Street, near Earhart Boulevard. Hankton died on the sidewalk next to a carwash between Burdette and Fern streets. The other victims were taken to hospitals.

4) Seriously folks, read this one and think about it. First they shot them, then they set their trailer on fire.
Proximity Rating: Who knows anymore
A double shooting in eastern New Orleans occurred about 3:45 a.m. Police identified Jermaine Hunt, 19, as a suspect, and an arrest warrant was issued on two counts of attempted murder, robbery and arson, Flot said.
Responding to an initial report of a fire, Flot said, 7th District police found two men in the street in the 5100 block of Lakeview Court, a cul-de-sac lined with double townhouses and tucked into the bend of Interstate 10 at Dwyer Road


All the while, two folks get shot in Colorado and its front page news. The alternative newspapers tout a man says he's got the real numbers. Convoluted as it sounds, NOMB doesn't care about numbers. It's the endless stream of lists, the day in and day out, that we get our juice from.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Thursday

NOMB wonders if the first days of Hannukah have any bearing on the current state of affairs in the city. Can't anyone just take a day of and light a candle.
NOMB lights a candle for all ya'll out there shooting each other up. Maybe you'll see our light, huh brah? Maybe?

A 25-year-old New Orleans man was fatally shot in an eastern New Orleans trailer park late Wednesday afternoon, police said. The shooting occurred shortly around 4:30 p.m. Police found a man lying in a roadway inside a trailer park in the 7700 block of Chef Menteur Highway. The man had multiple gunshot wounds, police spokeswoman Officer Jonette Williams said. He died at University Hospital at 5:28 p.m.
Detectives had no motive

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The same, only different

Ever since NOMB started digging, we keep coming up with more of the same. Let's keep the monotony rolling.

1) Proximity Rating: 2 (This little piece of work is exactly at exactly the half way point between two volunteer construction jobs the our Editors are running this week)
A 19-year-old man walking down the street in the Treme neighborhood was shot late Tuesday morning.
The local teen was walking near St. Philip and North Robertson streets about 11:30 a.m. when gunshots rang out, said Officer Garry Flot.
The victim suffered a graze wound to the stomach

2) Proximity Rating: 4 (we had breakfast with a nice young lady over there on Sunday)
Around 1:30 p.m., a gunman approached two young men in the Irish Channel, according to police reports. The gunman attempted to rob a 23-year-old man in the 700 block of Pleasant Street. The two started scuffling.
A second man, 29, tried to assist the victim. The gunman shot the 29-year-old in the left leg

3) Proximity Rating: ? (It's probably better for everyone if we don't know where this went down. We mean, no need to worry needlessly)
Two people were shot around 10:20 p.m. in the Uptown area, which encompasses the 2nd District
The address was not listed on preliminary police logs.
The victims -- a 20-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman -- were approached by a man in a dark vehicle who started shooting.
The man was shot in the shoulder, the woman in the left hand.


NOMB where violence is front page.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Weekend Wrap Up

Lets do this.

1)Surprise Surprise : Proximity Rating: 10
An unidentified man was found dead in a Gretna ditch Thursday night and police have no motive or suspects.
The man was found in the 300 block of Ocean Avenue about 8 p.m

2)Proximity Rating: 5 (we were right over there trying to make some side cash by unsweating a cast iron hub)
A man was shot several times on the sidewalk in front of a gas station Friday night on South Carrollton Avenue
3)A man was shot in the neck and back in the courtyard of an Algiers apartment complex.
4)Meanwhile, New Orleans police are continuing an investigation into the fatal shooting of a man by a would-be robber Wednesday in Central City.
5) Brandon Brown, 28, of New Orleans was the victim in Saturday's killing.
Brown died at 5:36 a.m. at a hospital of a gunshot wound to the head, Gagliano said. He also was shot in the hand.
Shortly after 3 a.m., New Orleans police found Brown and another man with several gunshot wounds near Gen. de Gaulle and Shirley drives


If you are confused by any of this, then you are right on the money. How many vicitms are the same? Is Brown the same man that was reported shot on Saturday? What the hell is going on?

Hell of a lot of cap peeling. That's what the fuck is going on.

Friday, November 30, 2007

No Surprise Here

As we were saying yesterday:

A man was found shot to death in a ditch alongside a Gretna street Thursday night, Gretna police said.
The man had a gunshot wound to the face and wasn't immediately identified.


Also,

An Algiers woman was found shot to death in her home Thursday morning but her young son and daughter were unharmed, the New Orleans police said.
Angela Thomas Bryant, 41, of the 1000 block of Farragut Street, had just celebrated her birthday Wednesday, and authorities believed she was killed the same night.


Suddenly it semms the West Bank is on fire. Not too much different from its namesake elsewhere.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Repeats

No, the following is not a reprint of a story from yesterday, last weekend, or the week before. Suddenly, the West Bank and Jefferson Parish have become the hot spot to take out you rival. Probably, the low housing stock has force mid-level hustlers to relocate. You can't keep all your cash and dope in a one bedroom apartment player. You gots to spread that shit out to a three bedroom ranch home in Harvey.

This rash of JP violence seems like a direct challange to the stability of the new sheriff's regime. Taking a cue from their buddies in NOLA, the bad seeds have snatched the inievitable chaos of a administrative changeover to run wild. No?

Proximity Rating: 8 (Only one of our editors lives in the burbs)
Two teenage boys were shot Wednesday afternoon in Harvey, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office reported.
The pair, one 16 and the other 17, were in critical condition at University Hospital with gunshot wounds to the chest, the sheriff's office said.
The incident took place in the 1900 block of Estalote Avenue.

Story goes that two cars pulled up and two men got out and started shooting.

The news reported a shooting in Central City last night, but a review of all available media materials has turned up nothing. Even the WDSU Web site has no mention of it, which is odd considering they sent it out over the vacuum tubes while NOMB was getting harassed at a local bar.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Revisit

Before we get in today's business, let's take a minute to review yesterday's jogger death.
Seriously folks, if you live in the city, and you know the park, you got to be asking yourself, "How rich is this guy that they didn't release his name, or for that matter, blood alcohol level?"
Come on now, driving in the park?

There is something disturbing about this obvious crime of passion
Proximity Rating: 10 (our editors have no passion in our lives)
A 60-year old widower was found stabbed to death in his Harvey home Tuesday morning, and Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies are searching for a motive and suspects in the parish's third homicide in two days.
Ray Babin was found dead with a kitchen knife in his throat about 9:35 a.m. at his home at 2124 Missile St. in the Spanish Oaks subdivision by his brother, according to Col. Robert Garner, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Finally

It's about time we had some justifiable homicide up in this piece.
If they break into your house, shoot them:

Proximity Rating: 10 (NOMB does not work shipyards)
Jefferson Parish sheriff's detectives were trying to determine whether the fatal shooting of an apparent robbery suspect Monday night in Avondale was justified,
Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of gunfire about 7:40 p.m. and found a man lying dead in the middle of the 200 block of Travis Drive in the Kennedy Heights subdivision, Garner and residents said. The man had one or more gunshot wounds, he said.

If someone owes you money, shoot them:

Proximity Rating: 9 (Some of our editors drive trucks. How would they feel in this situation)
A three-day-old feud between two men regarding the payment for a broken pickup truck window left one of them sprawled dead in an Avondale driveway Monday and the other in jail.
Kenneth Musgrove, 24, of Ellen Street in Ama, was shot in his torso outside 173 Dialita Drive, the home of his alleged killer, Michael Glaub, 23.
The earlier shooting took place about a mile away on the other side of U.S. 90.


And for those of you who appreciate a taste of the bizzare, read on:
Proximity Rating: 7 (We don't jog, but we don't mind the fitness challage stations set up along the track!)
A New Orleans man died Monday after he was struck by an SUV that wound up on the Audubon Park jogging trail, said officer Sabrina Richardson, a spokeswoman for New Orleans police.

We're trying to get it back folks, bare (bear?) with us.

Monday, November 26, 2007

The Lights, The Pie

NOMB has been on vacation. Not locking doors and eating butter. So here's the quick and dirty. God, this project is hanging on by a string.

Two men were shot, one fatally, in Kenner on Friday night, Kenner police said.
Police responded to call that two men had been shot, and found the victims in the 2700 block of Dawson Street, said Detective Shaun Watson, a police spokesman


Eddie Spiller, 38, of New Orleans, died at about 6:45 p.m. at Urquhart and Egania streets in the Lower 9th Ward, chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano said.
Spiller suffered an apparent gunshot wound to the head


A man who was fatally shot Saturday night in Algiers was wanted on a warrant in the shooting death of a man last month, police said.
Carlos Miller, 19, of New Orleans, also was acquitted two years ago in the shooting death of a young mother on a Carnival parade route during a confrontation with street rivals in 2004


theres more but we're lost in a Monday.
Try backlater

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Beef

Not the meat of choice for the upcoming holidays. The meat of choice, however, for the culture of violence.

Proximity Rating: 4 - We were up on a roof in the 3200 block on Monday. But no one in that hood has got beef with NOMB
Second District police responded to a report about 6 p.m. of a youth down on the ground and found him lying partly on the sidewalk, partly on a patch of grass in the 3700 block of South Roman Street, between Delachaise and Gen. Taylor streets.
Andre Toussaint,17, of New Orleans had been shot several times and was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

New Sheriff's Lament

It seems like, just when Jefferson Parish was getting back in the saddle, another bloody night reminds us that the burbs are just as rough as the city. Now that the people from the city were forced into the burbs they say.

Proximity Rating: another 10 (we feel safer everyday)
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of shots fired in the 1100 block of Beechwood Drive at about 9 p.m., and found two men lying in the near a home.

One victim, identified as Carlos Lawrence, 31, was found dead from gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder, while another 32-year old man was found with two gunshot wounds to the buttocks.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Return to Form

We all hoped, down here at NOMB, that the recent lull in material was actually a fundamental shift in the fabric of NOLA's culture of violence. It all seemed so quiet. Our editors went out doors. There were 24 hour drawing marathons, thanksgiving invites, coffee without the acidic sting. Some of us took deep breaths and sat next to the train tracks. When the officers assigned to the security detail failed to show up, we laughed because, "what could go wrong now that we've seen the light?"

Saturday: Proximity rating: 10 (We don't ever go east of Dowman Rd, unless it's the state of Florida)
New Orleans police were called Saturday afternoon to the scene of the city's first shooting death in eight days. The victim was identified by chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano as Tyrone Lanaux Jr., a 31-year-old local man. He was at least the 189th person killed on the streets of New Orleans this year


Proximity rating: 7 (We like to shop at Mike's hardware)
Later Saturday, two people were shot in the Gentilly neighborhood.
The two adults were shot about 6:55 p.m. in the 1600 block of Gentilly Boulevard, a few blocks east of Esplanade Avenue. Their wounds were not believed to be life-threatening, Williams said.

Sunday:
Jeff Parish has a new Sheriff, who won in a 91% landslide victory. They also have a slew of killings. All of them well detailed for us this Monday morning

Proximity rating: 10 (when was the last time anyone went to the West Bank for anything but Pho?)
Three people in all were killed, including two on the West Bank and one in Metairie. The violence was compounded when deputies, responding to a stabbing at the motel, shot the suspect after he pounced at them with a knife
Deputies responded to a 911 call around 4:40 p.m. about a disturbance at the run-down motel, where most rooms are still uninhabitable because of flood damage, .
Residents said they had heard a fight about an alleged infidelity and had seen a man leave an upstairs room carrying a bloody brown-handled knife with a long silver blade.The door was cracked open, giving deputies a view of two people lying motionless on the bed, one atop the other with a towel draped over their faces, he said. Deputies believed the two were "either unconscious or had passed," he said. But when they entered the room, a man identified as Terry Robinson, 51, jumped up holding a knife. He stabbed at the woman's body on the bed and attempted to slash a deputy.
Needless to say, that shot his ass.

Proximity Rating: 10 (Refer to #1)

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies found Terry K. Ingram, 16, dead in the driveway of a Harvey apartment complex in the 3700 block of Longleaf Drive, authorities said. Ingram's address is listed in the 2200 block of Alex Kornman Boulevard.

Proximity Rating: 10 (blah blah blah)

Around 6:30 a.m., officers found the body of an unidentified woman in front of a home in the 1500 block of Haydel Drive in Marrero, authorities said. The woman died at the scene from several gunshots. She was described as being in her late teens to early 20s, about 5-foot-2 and 150 pounds with shoulder-length hair, authorities said.
The victim was wearing a MFG-brand pink pullover shirt emblazoned with a photo of herself on the back, police said.
The wording, "Can I Ball Ya'll" and "Get Money," surrounded the victim's picture with the name "Shaun AKA-Jazz" on the pullover, authorities said
. The victim wore a pair of RU-brand blue jeans with suspenders, high-top blue Converse sneakers, and carried what appeared to be a picture of herself in her pocket, deputies said.


This photo sounds like the kind you can get taken of yourself at the YMOL secondline.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Where You Working.

Off Kerlerec, a man is trailing his hoe behind him. A white girl that has terrible skin, and true to form, lots of make up.

The editors of NOMB leave Lapyerouse (sic) the feeling that the house they've just left could be the death of them. The contractor who they are policing might just put a utility knife in their back.

A typical day might be:
1) A carpenter with two helpers. One a white guy with a backwards hat and tattoos on his nick. The other a young black guy with gold teeth and his boots unlaced.
2) A yellow cab with the sticker "Everyday I'm hustling" on the rear window.
3) Politcial fliers piling up in the mail box.

NOMB endorses Cythia Willard-Lewis over Jackie Clarkson. At least right now, only becuase Jackie's smear ads are on the kitchen counter next to where our editors take their lunch.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Lagging

Even the best of us get behind. Such as leaving the phone at home only to realize the next day that your roomate has sent you a text message warning you of the presence of four hooded men stalking your neighborhood.

A 39-year-old resident of the homeless encampment at Duncan Plaza across the street from City Hall died in his tent Thursday morning from injuries suffered in a beating inflicted elsewhere the night before, the coroner's office said.

See, sometimes it take us a while to get the ball rolling over here at NOMB. Just like it took a while for the police to issue reports of the following shootings. Just like it took that poilce detective awhile to die after being shot in a home invasion a few weeks back.

But not with the speed that most of NOLA murder victims go.

NOMB is instituting a new PROXIMITY RATING that measure the closeness of murders to our editors at any given time. 10 being like, on the Northshore. 1 being like, at the other end of the bar.

This murder rates a 5 becasue NOMB is working a house around the corner from here:
In a Friday slaying, Jubbar Scott was shot about 11 a.m. in the 8600 block of Hickory Street, New Orleans police and the Orleans Parish coroner's office said.
Police answered a call about a man who had been shot and found Scott lying on the sidewalk between Leonidas and Monroe streets.


This shooting gets a 7 becasue we went over there the other day to pick up a table.
On Thursday night, a man and woman were shot by carjackers Uptown, New Orleans police said.
Shortly before 11 p.m., the man and woman were sitting in a vehicle in the 800 block of Burdette Street. Two men drove up and fired into the vehicle, Flot said. The carjackers shot the man in the chest and the woman in the leg. One of the gunmen got into the victims' car and drove away, between Burthe and Maple streets


That makes the beating death of the homeless man a 10 becasue that kind of stuff is another world.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Death of the Murder Blog?

It should be. Lord knows it's time.

A 29-year-old construction worker was shot to death Wednesday night in unincorporated Jefferson Parish near Gretna.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Put Your Mother on the Plane

While the "trolls" over at the Nola.com forums repost the stories of bathroom muggings at seedy bars and drunk transplants getting jacked at gun point off of Frenchman St, NOMB recalls those days after the shotgun slaying on Charters when NOPD was out in force on the popular party street. Riding horses.

Anyway, it's relieving to see this kind of thing. This sort of killing smacks of personal disputes, the company you keep, and of course, your ability to ward of an attack. Not necessarily where you decide to go drinking. Although, that don;t make it any more right, just less scary.

A 46-year-old man was found bludgeoned to death in his Central City residence Tuesday night.

Addendum:
In the case of the wandeing toddler, NOMB is decidedly pro emancipation for all children. Let's all try to grow up faster.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Keep Your Eyes Peeled in the Parish

They're looking for 'em. The rest of us are looking for a way out. Sort of like that poor kid from John Curtis.

Deputies found Russell Beaty, 27, with a gunshot wound to the chest late Monday night at the Myrtle Grove Trailer Park in Meraux, where he resides. Investigators said Beaty was shot after a confrontation with two other people.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Breaking News: Jeff Parish Also Dangerous

A man calls NOMB as we are updating the blog yesterday.
"You know that man that was shot on Pauger," he asks.
"Yep."
"That's Curtis' son."

Curtis, a quiet big man with big hands, worked with one of our editors when he was doing construction after the storm. According to the man that called, Curtis had remarked only a day earlier that, "that boy wasn't going to make it to see next week."
Curtis was at work the on the day following the shooting.

New Orleans police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man in the 100 block of West Park Court shortly before 5 a.m. He was identified as Julian Mathins, 19, of New Orleans, by John Gagliano, chief investigator for the New Orleans coroner's office.

Per our headline:
In Jefferson Parish, the Sheriff's Office is investigating five non-fatal shootings, a stabbing and an armed robbery that occurred during the weekend.

1)Friday's incident was a stabbing in the 1700 block of Burnley Street in Marrero on Friday shortly after 12:30 a.m. The woman's injuries were deemed non-life-threatening

2)The first incident on Saturday occurred shortly before 12:30 a.m. when an unidentified man was found shot in the 1800 block of Stumpf Boulevard in Terrytown.

3)About an hour later, deputies were called to investigate an armed robbery and shooting at 468 Lapalco Blvd. near Gretna. A man reported being robbed and shot by unidentified individuals.

4)Saturday evening brought shootings in Terrytown and Marrero. The first occurred near the intersection of Mt. Kennedy Drive and Ames Boulevard in Marrero. Shortly before 6:40 p.m., a man reported being shot.

5)About four hours later in Terrytown, another unidentified man was found shot with non-life-threatening injuries in the 200 block of Holmes Boulevard.


It's like Harry Lee goes down and the parish goes crazy or something.

Gangster

When we read things like this, we get an idea of just how ridiculous this shit get some times. NOMB seriously wonders if all this is easier than just getting a fucking job.

Calvin King, 35, was arrested Saturday night in the 4300 block of Loire Street, in Kenner. He was booked with aggravated kidnapping of Javier Sanchez, 26, aggravated burglary, and auto theft.Sanchez was kidnapped Friday night after armed men confronted his 21-year-old girlfriend at their apartment in the 1900 block of Clearview Parkway. The men confronted the woman in the parking lot and forced her into the apartment. They bound her to a bed and searched the apartment for drugs belonging to Sanchez, Fortunato said.
They were still searching when Sanchez returned home.
The men kidnapped Sanchez, placing him into his black Ford Expedition. Sanchez died of one gunshot wound, chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano said. Police said the wound was in the stomach.


This kind of whole sale gangsterism in a tad more sophisticated than Friday's slaying of a man in Treme, who, coincidental, was only one block from where a man threatened one of our editors on the job last weel. Luckily, NOMB hasn't brought the clouds on anyone's shine recently and so was probably not the intended target of the retaliatory murder that the dead man was on his way to commit.


A man carrying a sawed-off shotgun died in a hail of bullets midmorning Friday in the middle of a 7th Ward street, steps away from an elementary school in session. Police said a 20-year-old man was fatally shot several times in the head and body. He fell to the ground and never got up. He was pronounced dead at the scene, New Orleans police officer Jonette Williams said.


It didn't stop there. On Saturday, the little mini-war moved down the block:
A man was shot in the face Saturday two blocks from the site of a fatal shooting the day before near a 7th Ward school, New Orleans police said.
Saturday's shooting occurred about 3:45 p.m. in the 1300 block of Touro Street, between Urquhart and North Villere streets. Police said the victim was taken to a hospital, but they did not release his condition.


Needless to say, NOMB won't be sending any volunteers over there any time soon.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Rare Old Ones

Sometimes, we're shocked when we someone this old getting shot, like we assume they should know better or something.

A 34-year-old New Orleans man was fatally shot in the 400 block of North Tonti Street Thursday evening, police said. The victim died in front of a newly constructed shotgun-style house. The man, who declined to give his name, said the victim was a neighborhood resident and was getting ready to put the finishing touches on the house.
Standing against the yellow crime scene tape, he said the victim was around the neighborhood every day, and they had spoken a few hours earlier.
"He said he was going to be a millionaire in five years," from his real estate dealings, the man said. "He didn't make it."


Daniel Monteverde over there at the Times-Picayune is working on his literary chops apparently, what with the stage directions and scene building.
This quote, is it meant to be ironic?

Thursday, November 1, 2007

At 3 p.m., there was a report that two men took a white van from its driver at gunpoint. The carjacking occurred in the 1500 block of North Derbigny Street, about four or five blocks from the apartment building where the shooting occurred.

Add this to the fact that a New York editor and one of the editors from NOMB were chased out of a house not two blocks from this location on Tuesday @ 10:00 AM by a crack dealer who had set up shop in one of the abandoned house that NOMB works on.

Plus the recent threat issued to one of the volunteers that stemmed from the misparking of a car in front of a house ("I'm gonna put a hole in your back," was the official word on that) and what you have is a city where you shouldn't bring your mother.

NOMB drives a white van past that spot on the daily, kid.

P.S. All that hubbub at N. Claiborne and Esplanade/Gov Nicholls turned out to be a sham. Nice that they rolled SWAT out there. No really, nice.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The King is Dead

The bloody reign of District Attorney Eddie Jordan came to an end yesterday, not because of his totally inept handling of prosecutions in the city, but because of the 3.5 million dollar backlash stemming from a lawsuit. While radio talk show host asked commuters in the CBD if this was going to have a direct effect on crime in the city, NOMB wondered if the threat of punitive action against violent criminals has ever been effective in the city.

NOMB asked a few a citizens outside of the CBD what they thought. Here are some reactions.
"Trying to act like this cutter won't split 'em" - Birdman
"It's part of the game," said one man, is hat cocked to the side, throwing the deuces to the resigning DA.

Over in the Nolia (not to be confused with NOLA)
A man believed to have been dead for at least two days was found Tuesday afternoon in an overgrown lot Uptown on Magnolia Street. He had been shot at least twice, police and the coroner's office said.
The body was identified as Anthony Walker, 28, of New Orleans, by a cousin who said he hadn't seen Walker since last week and has been looking for him for a few days.


Hold the post, this guy might have heard about Eddie J. Maybe that's why he did it:
A 22-year-old New Orleans man wanted in the home invasion slaying of three eastern New Orleans residents and the wounding of four others turned himself in to New Orleans police Tuesday.
Police had obtained an arrest warrant last week for Jerry Spencer Jr. on three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Calling Off for Rain Day

The old folk volunteers painting a house over on N Prieur huddled into a little ball on the corner waiting for their tour bus to pick them up @ 4:00. The block made a drastic change around 3:00. Little kids with tanks tops and black gloves caseing them out.
"We're in the hood aren't we?" They ask.

Later that day, a new Americorp volunteer, fresh off the plane from California with his father calls his new boss and tells her he is leaving.
"This is a dangerous city," he says, on the phone at the airport. "I feel like I wans't told about this."

Two people were found fatally shot in separate incidents less than an hour apart Monday night, New Orleans police said.
The first slaying occurred shortly before 9 p.m. at Frenchmen and North Derbigny streets in the 7th Ward. The man suffered apparent gunshot wounds to the head and back. Across town, at about 9:35 p.m., a man was found shot at South Liberty and Valence streets. He also was pronounced dead at the scene.
The killing occurred in an Uptown section midway between Napoleon and Jefferson avenues and midway between St. Charles and South Claiborne avenues.


NOMB stresses the fact. None of these spots are particularly more or less dangerous than anywhere else in the city, or the world for that matter.

Stick to the NOLA mantras:
It is what it is.
Don't fuck around.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Promises

NOMB finds itself down on Marias at 6:00 AM and the nightwalkers are still hobbling about. It's cold and quiet, surrounded by burned out buildings, warehouses and yards, a few houses freshly painted. The latest weekend of violence still fresh for everyone, NOMB locks the steel door behind them.

In the Treme, around the time school gets out on Kerlerec, a man in a coat threatens to shoot one of the volunteers in the back for parking the wrong way on a one-way street.

The body of a Harvey man who had been shot in the back of the head was found on a residential street in Avondale early Sunday by Jefferson Parish sheriff's officers, said Sheriff Newell Normand

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Sunday's Supply List

Let's be honest, even the editors over here have lost track. Three weeks ago, we had that 6 homicide weekend, then we just had a three homicide one. Sprinkle in the shootings recently and everyone will agree that it's been pretty damn violent around here.


A man was shot dead early Saturday in the Lower Garden District and another man was shot to death in Algiers on Saturday night, New Orleans police said. In a third case, Brian Lee, 16, was shot Oct. 21 about 8:45 p.m. in a playground at Earhart Boulevard and Broadway. He died Wednesday at University Hospital of a gunshot wound to the head.

The algiers shooting is very close to the home of some of the local volunteer contingent. Over on Vallette. NOMB does not go to the Westbank enough. Also, some bikers from Nashville were crossing over press on the N. Robertson over pass. NOMB wonders if they would have been able to come and visit the 9th ward in such force 3 or 4 years ago. Eitherway, there they were.

Also, there's some thing in this one:
It was incorrectly reported in some editions Saturday that a 17-year-old woman was shot Friday evening at Apple and Eagle streets in the Hollygrove neighborhood. Police said the victim, who was taken to a hospital, is a 17-year-old man.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Near and Far

NOMB walked home from work to find a police officer standing on the back of a young black man in a grey sweat suit. The officer had his gun to the back of the kid's head. After a bowl of instant oatmeal and a glass of water, NOMB went back out front to find cop cars swarming the blocks. There were marked ones, unmarked ones, ones with out of state plates. Where they all came from is anyone's guess.
AS they were putting the kid in the back of the squad car, we overheard the officer say, "How did you like that taser/"

Well folks, how do you like four murders in one night?

Four men were killed overnight in New Orleans in two separate shootings

In the first incident, police responded shortly before midnight to the 13000 block of Explorer Street in New Orleans East, said Officer Shereese Harper.

Officers found two men slumped down in a patch of grass in front of an abandoned house, police said. Nearby, a third victim, was lying in the street.

Each of the men, whose identities have not been released, had gunshot wounds to the head and body. They were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Around 3 a.m., police investigated a fatal shooting in Treme. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds to the head and back lying aside an abandoned building in the 1500 block of St. Ann.


1500 block of St. Ann? We were just over there

Monday, October 22, 2007

Ms. Shana

Eloquence, thy name is tattoo identification
New Orleans police early Sunday discovered the body of an unidentified tattooed woman who had been shot to death in eastern New Orleans.
She appears to have been between 20 and 30 years old, police said. She has two upper gold teeth and several tattoos, including "New Orleans Gangsta B -- -- " on her chest, "A'Lura" on her left arm, "Bruce" on her right arm, an image of a dragon on her right ankle and the words "Ms Shana," according to police.


While NOMB rediscovered the joys of the city on a bike at night, the city continued to discover the joys of exacting vicious retribution on its citizens. We at NOMB liken the latest round of killings to the runner who does the first two miles in 9:00 and then kicks it up, sprinting that last mile, and making it in 7:45. With only two months left till the end of the year, NO is making that mad push to better its numbers and solidify itself as Murder Capital USA.

Sunday:
1)Officers found a young man slumped on a street corner at Star and Wales streets, police said.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, had been shot several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

2)Jason Anderson, 27, was shot outside his home in the 8700 block of Gervais Street, on a patch of grass beside a driveway. "When he got outside, someone opened fire at him," said Sherry Nugent, a family friend who spoke on behalf of his relatives.
3)Hipster artists and green enthusiasts beware the next time you try to find some "good old wood to do a painting on," or "some old doors for this triptych street art thing," you've been thinking of.
Archie Solet, 32, of Dulac, died from gunshot wounds,at the busy intersection of St. Roch Avenue and North Robertson Street. The shooting apparently took place near a Dumpster filled with refuse, near a shuttered, blighted house.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Whatever

Just whatever kids, whatever.

A gun-wielding man who apparently had been arguing with a girlfriend was shot and fatally wounded after exchanging gunfire with police on two occasions within an hour Thursday night in the Iberville public housing complex, New Orleans police said.

This guy is wlaking through the projects, taking shots at police for over an hour. With kids everywhere, old folks, people trying to enjoy the TV. At least in the east there's noone around. I guess this is what political clout buys you in this town.

The gun-wielding man fatally shot late Thursday by New Orleans Police was the nephew of former city councilman Oliver Thomas, police sources said.

Whatever that means, of course. None of the editors over here have any idea.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Steady as She Goes, eh?

What details do they really need? With no motive, and no suspects, they might start with the following:
1) It's drug related
or
2) "It's part of the game," he said, eyes raised to the coming rain, the ball cap twisted sideways on his head.

New Orleans police were investigating a shooting in Algiers Wednesday night that left one person dead.
Few details were available late Wednesday, but police officers at the scene confirmed that a man was dead at the Holly Park apartments in the 3300 block of Preston Place
.

Maybe we're getting jaded, but when a body turns up inside a burning car NOMB tends to smell murder, and it tends to smell suspiciously like this story...

An autopsy is scheduled today to try to determine whether a charred body found early Wednesday inside a car in Gentilly was dead before or after the vehicle was set afire, police and the coroner's office said.

A Alabama associate was commenting to our editors just the other day, "In Birmingham, you know its getting hot when the cars start catching fire."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Principle

Let's not stand on it people, keep it rolling.

A 19-year-old New Orleans man was shot to death on an Irish Channel street on Tuesday night.
Police believe the shooting may be linked to a fistfight he was involved in earlier Tuesday night a few blocks away.


Don't throw blows, tote a 44
Instead scrapin', should have used a Mac 10
etc

"It's all part of the game," he said, blowing a kiss from two fingers towards the sky.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Humanity

Try to imagine what your write up will look like. Ours will read alot like this one, minus the cupcake.

She was 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds, with reddish-brown hair, green eyes and two tattoos. The tattoo on her right leg is of a rose with the name "Carmen" intertwined in the leaves. Underneath the rose is the name, "Leona." A tattoo on the woman's left buttock is of a cupcake with a cherry on top. The phrase "G.B. and $" is written over the cupcake.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Too Soon

We spoke:

One more body, with absolutely no details, was discovered early this morning near Armstrong Park.

We've got Marigny Cafe owners on the news. We've got national spotlights flashing the Batman signal over the Monteleone. Blah, blah, blah.

Back in Business

While NOMB slept the fretted sleep, the city found it's stride. The Saints won a game, the mice are back in the cabinet, and the guns greased and loaded. Lets see what the lord's day held in store for the sleepy town of New Orleans, shall we?

Didn't see it coming, or possibly, execution style
1.Eddie Bernard, 23, of Algiers was shot shortly after 11 a.m. in the 2900 block of Dryades Street, police spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said. He said Bernard was shot in the back of the head.

Saw it all to well, or possibly, execution style
2. Later Sunday, a New Orleans man was shot in the 2500 block of Danneel Street.
The man was shot in the face shortly before 3 p.m., Narcisse said. His name was withheld while attempts were made to notify his relatives.


Let''s not stand on circumstance. Let the ladies have a turn
3.Gentilly was the scene of the third slaying. A woman was found shot about 5 p.m. in the 1400 block of Mandolin Street, between Paris and St. Bernard avenues. The victim died in a service alley, Narcisse said.

Of course, a quick Saturday wrap up...
An 18-year-old man was fatally shot early Saturday in the area of South Galvez and Poydras streets, the Orleans Parish coroner's office said.
Gregory Hayes, of New Orleans, died at 5:15 a.m. at University Hospital of a gunshot wound to the chest.


Also,
Later Saturday, the city recorded another slaying. About 9:25 p.m., someone was found fatally wounded at Magazine and Josephine streets in the Lower Garden District

All this, and the shaddy character with the shaved eyebrows is foiled in his attempt to steal from a psychiatrist car after one of our editors spooks him. His get away car quickly swoops him up and the ride off down the street. Our editor wonders if he might have gotten off lucky.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Big Trouble

If ever there was some.

An off-duty New Orleans police detective remains hospitalized in critical condition after he was shot by two gunmen who forced their way into his eastern New Orleans home early Saturday, police said.


The preliminary reports say that he and his wife were in the home and that the detective exchange fire with the intruders.

Needless to say, NOPD might finally take some interest in the epidemic of home invasions plaguing the wasteland that used go by the name of NO East.

While police have named a person of interest, we all know this guy won't ever surface, not because they won't find him, but because no one else ever will.

Lag Time

Now, our editors are notorious for sleeping on the hot stories, and also neglecting minor offenses (and then there's also the stuff from yesterday), but when you put NOMB and NOPD side by side, NOMB looks like rhodes scholars...or at the very least, competent, or not asleep, or you know, like Warren Riley said on the radio yesterday, trained in customer service.

Kenner police are seeking help in finding two kidnappers who forced a man to withdraw money from a bank's automated teller machine.

Officers said they found the man near a bank in the 2500 block of Williams Boulevard on Sept. 29 at 1:51 a.m. He told them he was getting out of his van in the Susan Park subdivision when two men forced him back inside his vehicle.


Sept 29th...

Also,
Look out folks, he's back on the streets. NOMB has almost as soft a spot for this Tulane stabber as they do for Ms. Coco and her blue and gold tnak tops.

The Tulane University football player accused of stabbing five people on Bourbon Street last month after a barroom altercation was released from jail Thursday after his bond was reduced.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Sloppy

It occurs to us, as of late, that the format, content, commentary of NOMB has been sloppier than normal. Rife with mispellings, bad grammer. One editor has take all together too much liberty with the italics and the bold functions.

Endeavoring to remedy this, NOMB is adopting a new, no nonsense posting policy. First order of the day, take our cues from these boys...

A Kenner man has been booked with attempted murder after he stabbed his roommate in an argument over a beer, Kenner police said.Lazaro Castro, 25, accused Luis Salvador, 26, of drinking one of his beers, according to Detective Shaun Watson, a Kenner Police Department spokesman.
The verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation when Castro hit Salvador in the face with his fist and at least once in the head with a 5-gallon plastic bucket, Watson said in a news release. Salvador armed himself with a kitchen knife after occupants in the apartment intervened and separated the two, the release said.


Jesus Christ people, touch our shit and we will fucking stab the shit out of you Ray Beaudreux Burbon Street style. You hear us NOLA? No more fucking around!

"It's part of the game," said the man, kissing his two fingers and raising them to the sky, Erato St. NOLA.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Sleeplessness...

Lands NOMB in the hospital with the shakes and heart popping out of the chest. Luckliy, if you go to Jefferson, you can still get a hospital bed. NOMB finally finds an upside to fatal shootings

A 37-year-old man died in a hail of gunfire in the 2100 block of Erato Street on Wednesday just after 11 a.m., New Orleans police said.

The man was identified as Donnell Gray, 37, of New Orleans, Police Department spokeswoman officer Jonette Williams said.


Brenda Maccarthy took some creative liberities with this one. Let's look at the verbiage.
Scene-building
Crime scene technicians snapped photos and took notes as Gray lay facedown. He wore jeans and a black shirt, and a baseball cap fell inches from his face. Fluorescent cones marked bullet casings.
Narrative Arc
Nearby, an NOPD chaplain held a broken umbrella aloft, shading two weeping relatives from the beating midday sun.
A man who identified himself as a relative tried to make his way past the police tape several times to no avail. He said he wanted to see Gray one last time and pay his final respects.

Moralistic Ending Without Editorial Commentary
Dejectedly, the man walked away and made the sign of the cross with his hand, bringing two fingers to his lips. With tears in his eyes, he turned his back and walked away.
He muttered: "It's part of the game."


The lull in violent crime has given our Times-Picayune writers with time to let thier literary chops shine.



slack-jawed

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Death Bed

While the sickness plagues the city, weakness and pain, dizzy spells and the like, the real death bed collects no moss, the bodies rolling across it at an unprecedented rate:

NOMB had somehting to say about this:
Kelvin Raymond lost his mother to heart failure Thursday. Three days later, he lost his life when a former neighbor stabbed him during a dispute over her, police said. Witnesses told police that Raymond, 38, and Roosevelt "Junior" Peabody, 46, were arguing Sunday night outside the Raymond family home on Edge Court in Kenner. Peabody's mother, Geraldine, who lives next door, said she went outside to investigate and that Raymond told her, "Junior is disrespecting me."
She said her son was telling Raymond, " 'I loved your mama like she was my mama,'" and that Raymond responded, " 'She was my mama, not your mama.'"


Something about this incident resonates with the story from out last post, don't you think?

And the hospital bed's too, they're full up:
In Monday's shootings, two people were shot in the back, and one in the leg in the 4800 block of Savoie Court in the Village de l'Est neighborhood. The wounds were not believed life-threatening in the 10:40 p.m. attack, said police spokeswoman Sabrina Richardson.

The shootings occurred in the same block where three people were fatally wounded on Aug. 24.


A Harvey teenager was killed Sunday night during a drive-by shooting near an apartment complex.

Samuel Foley, 16, died early Monday from gunshots wounds he received during a shooting at 1217 Estalote St., said Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. George Smith of Harvey also suffered gunshot wounds to his right arm and leg and is in stable condition at a local hospital

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Pay Back's A...

In a roofing supply house in Jefferson, a New Yorker with a standard east coast sense of entitlement has the following conversation with the salesman:
"We're here for concrete fiber board."
"I know we were expecting a truck," says the salesman, moving slowly to his computer. "But I don't know if it came in."
"You said on the phone that you had them. We drove all the way out here."
"Don't tell me what I got in stock boy," says the salesman stepping back from his computer and crossing his arms.
At this point, NOMB has to step in and tell the Americorp to go wait outside.


A man recently released from jail after killing two people in 2003 was shot to death Saturday in the Upper 9th Ward, New Orleans police said.


This killing, which occurred in essentially the same neighborhood as the two in 2003, is a prime example of NO's sense of reciprocity.

Afterwards the incident at the roofing supply house, our editors were forced to impart the following wisdom on the New York kid:
We act civil and slow around here, not so much out of courtesy as to keep from getting shot.

Also, since we've been working so much, we forgot these highlights:

It's only a a matter of time until we all see this one.

Don Smith, 45, of New Orleans, was found dead Thursday about 8 p.m. in an unoccupied house in the 4100 block of N. Miro St. in the 9th Ward, chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano said.

New Orleans police officers responded to a call about a man lying on the floor of a gutted house and found Smith



NO East Still Keeping Pace
In another killing, a man was shot to death early Friday in eastern New Orleans.
Police officers responding to a report of gunshots about 1:35 a.m. found Demetrius Gooden, 33, of New Orleans, dead in the 6700 block of Bundy Road, according to a police incident log.
Gooden had been shot once in the abdomen.


Ah hell, read the whole reprint, it makes for something to do...
n unrelated incidents Thursday, two people were stabbed. About 12:50 p.m., a person was stabbed in the 1600 block of St. Anthony Street in the 7th Ward, according to police records.

Hours later, two women battled in the 6th Ward. A 22-year-old woman stabbed a 17-year-old girl about 5 p.m. near the intersection of North Johnson and Governor Nicholls streets, according to police records. The teenager suffered a wound to her left knee.

Officers investigated a rape about 6:25 p.m. in the 200 block of North Robertson Street in the Central Business District.

Early Friday in the Holy Cross neighborhood, a gun fired as two friends argued in the 1000 block of Lamanche Street, wounding one person, according to police records. One person told police the gun went off accidentally. The victim was shot in the left shoulder about 4:20 a.m.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The East is in the House

Keep the count, brah. Makes 154 officially, but whatever.

Police are investigating a shooting that left a man dead in eastern New Orleans late Monday night.

Dwayne Landry, 25, of New Orleans, died in the 13500 block of North Nemours Street, in Village de l'Est. An autopsy showed Landry was shot twice in the head, said chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano.


Does anyone ever look at this blog and just say, "Jesus Christ."
We do. Sometimes.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Does This Count?

NOMB, like the rest of the city, was not surprised to hear of the passing of sheriff Harry Lee yesterday. He was a sick man. We were however, amazed at the dexterous stylings of Michelle Hunter and her depiction of "The Day the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Went Silent."

Here's a taste:

When word spread of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee's death Monday morning, the normally bustling headquarters of the department's 1st District in Metairie turned still.

The telephones went quiet. Conversations stopped. No one walked in to make a complaint. Even the ceaseless chatter on the police radio seemed to pause. It was an unscripted moment of silence in deference to the loss of their leader.


This loss, unlike so many of the deaths we've had here in the city over the last year, was unscripted.

All of that aside, we at NOMB wish his everlasting soul good luck and hope for the best, for his family and for the parish.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Monday, Monday

One editor down here was awoken this morning by a neighbor's call.
"Would you look out the window," she asked. "And see if there are any cops in the 800 block."
After an inspection from the camelback window concluded that there was, in fact, no activity at all in the 800 block, our editor inquired.
"Well," she said, "There were gunshots this morning as I was walking the kids to the school and now I'm down at the park cuz I don't want to come home."

A reasonable response we feel.
On with the business of living, or in this case, dying...

Second Lines Danger:
A man was in critical condition after he was shot at Freret Street and Washington Avenue on Sunday afternoon, New Orleans police said.

The man was shot in the buttocks shortly before 4 p.m., said Shereese Harper, a police public information officer.


The Burbs are Burning:

Two males were shot to death in a 2008 Hyundai, Col. John Fortunato said. The victims appeared to have been shot multiple times. The killings occurred Sunday about 8:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Mount Kennedy Drive, about two blocks northwest of Ames and Barataria boulevards.


Pigeon Town:

An 18-year-old man was shot to death and another was injured Sunday morning in the West Carrollton neighborhood, New Orleans police said.

Warren Martin of New Orleans was pronounced dead at the scene in the 1400 block of Monroe Street, between Willow and Jeannette streets, chief coroner's investigator John Gagliano said.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Second District officers responding to a report that a man had been shot found Martin lying on the ground with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, said Officer Shereese Harper, a police spokeswoman.


Our favorite part...
The second victim, also 18, of New Orleans, suffered a gunshot wound to the foot but refused medical treatment, Harper said.

NOMB would also refuse medical attention. Preferring instead to garner sympathy points with the ladies.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Purpose

Sometimes, when we go on hiatus, we realize just how addicted to our work we are. How it gives our lives meaning. The irony of deriving meaning in life from murder is not lost on NOMB, but it doesn't keep us up at night.

After a week-long lull, the New Orleans murder rate jumped another notch when police were called to Algiers shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday and found a 24-year-old New Orleans man in a silver Pontiac Grand Prix fatally shot in the head.

Meanwhile, police received a report of another shooting later Thursday night, in the 3300 block of Garden Oaks Drive on the West Bank, police said. No information was immediately available in that incident, reported shortly before 10:15 p.m. as a non-fatal shooting.

Some times we all got to re-up and re-load. Emotionally, spiritually, figuratively, literally.

Have a good friday NOLA.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

News?

Look out folks. Word Life.

Aggressive begging lands man in jail:
A man who aggressively panhandled around St. John the Baptist Parish was arrested Tuesday for the second time in less than a week, a spokesman from the Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.


THat's right, violence has left the building, or at least the news. The Saint's loss has put the city to bed. we know were exhausted over here.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

No, Really

Do not the eyes decieve you, Brenda Macarthy, oh glorious sage. It's 98% statistics, 14% of all people know that.

Violence Takes a Holiday in New Orleans: Wins Big At Harrah's, Books Two Night Stay at Royal Sonesta

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Please Save the Baby

DO you think New Orleans' own Little Wheezy had this bullshit in mind when he cut yet another cameo for another R&B two week on the chart single? Actually, the Destiny's Child trax was the hottness...

A Westwego child suffered a graze wound to the back of his head in Marrero on Saturday when someone in another vehicle fired shots at the car he was riding in, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.

A suspect was run over as the second vehicle fled, spokesman Col. John Fortunato said.

The 3-year-old boy was wounded shortly before 6 p.m. at Ames and Lapalco boulevards while riding with his 26-year-old mother and his aunt, Fortunato said.

Sidenote:
NOMB would like to openly apologize for the general tenor of our posts lately. Sorry folks, we'll clean up the language as soon as the assholes stop shooting babies and stabbing party goers...

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Under Wraps


When a student was arrested in a Tulane dormitory four years ago with three eightballs of cocaine, a bunch of weed, and some acid, he was suspended for a semester. The Harvard of the South likes to keep it in house. And with tutitions pushing 30k a year who can blame them?
Try sweeping this one under the rug you Uptown assholes

New Orleans police arrested Tulane University football player Ray Boudreaux on Friday morning in connection with a stabbing on Bourbon Street last weekend that left five people wounded, including a man who remains in critical condition at University Hospital.

NOMB's anger and jealousy aside, we guess that if your gonna get stabby on Burbon, you might as well stab them all. Boudreaux's rampage left every member of the opposing crew with a little bit of steel in them. And NOMB likes to see this younger generation stick to their guns and follow through.
We wish the new crew of Americorp in the city had this kind of tenacity

On to serious business..

Friday, September 21, 2007

Sensations

At one point do adjectives becomes sensational? How 'bout right here:

Charles Lee got a nasty surprise when he walked to his car early Monday to get a box of pork chops for his Algiers meat market: an AK-47 assault rifle pointed into his back.

But he eventually disarmed the would-be robber, a New Orleans teenager who has been accused of killing a Harvey man in Terrytown the same day.

The teen, Keaton Wilson, 18, of 1112 Vallette St. in Algiers, is wanted by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in the homicide of Kerwin Givens, 31, on Monday morning.


Luckily, NO East still provides:

A 25-year-old man was shot and killed early Thursday in eastern New Orleans, police said.

The victim, a local man, was shot shortly before 3:30 a.m. in the 15300 block of Chef Menteur Highway, according to a New Orleans Police Department news release.

Seventh District patrol officers responding to a call of an injured male found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds to his upper body


They say this puts at 150 for the year. NOMB's editors are to tired to care, to be honest. Just too tired.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Saddle: Back In

Where does it happen. Uptown, in Kenner, down the street from us. Good Times Roll etc..

A pall of grief descended on a block of older homes in the 9th Ward where a 19-year-old man was shot to death Tuesday.
Mario Anthony Green's mother cried inconsolably in the 1200 block of Louisa Street. She sat on the ground at the corner of Urquhart Street.


The body, which was actually lying on Marais, was only a few feet from the Warehouse where NOMB and the Americorp army stage rebuilding efforts round the city.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Slacking

While NOMB was slacking off, going to the lake front, listening to stories over Pho that recount the tale of a mutal aquaintance and the man who jumped into her car on Magazine street, his boddy riddled with bullets, the city moves on.

Like the 4AM shooting on Poland.
Or the birthday party shoot out.
Four killings in the city since Saturday. At least six other people were shot in the city, including three who were critically wounded.
Police also reported a rape and barroom fight that resulted in the stabbing of five people.
The hippies running thier mouths down atr the dog parks and someone else is gonna get clipped in Bywater.


Anyway, here's the best we recount:

Sunday:
An early morning shooting Saturday left one man dead in Central City, bringing the New Orleans' homicide total to at least 145 for 2007.

In an unrelated incident, one person was killed and three wounded in a multiple shooting Saturday night during a birthday party in Kenner. An 8-year-old boy was in stable condition, Kenner police said.

Monday:
The incident began with an argument inside a bar, which police did not identify, in the 200 block of Bourbon. It escalated to a fight outside, during which a man stabbed the victims: four men and a woman, Williams said. The fight moved throughout the block, she said.

Two men were killed in unrelated shootings early Sunday, the New Orleans Police Department reported.

Phillip A. Carmouche Jr., 29, of New Orleans, was killed in Algiers shortly after midnight, and an unidentified man was found shot to death in the Upper 9th Ward about 7 a.m., said Officer Jonette Williams, NOPD spokeswoman.

Two people were shot in separate instances Sunday night, New Orleans police said.

One victim suffered a leg wound about 8:50 p.m. in the area of Canal and Basin streets. The other was shot in the back about 9:10 p.m. near Basin and Bienville streets, said Jonette Williams, a police public information officer.

A 28-year-old New Orleans man was fatally shot Monday morning following an argument that began in a Central Business District bar and ended on a Bywater street corner.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Results

If you read the paper today, you might think they were working these murder cases like television cops. Lets see what they've been up to:

1)Woman booked with killing in Metairie
2)St. Rose man guilty in Kenner slaying
3)Metairie man booked in killing
4)Kenner murder suspect arrested
5)Algiers shooting suspect named
6)Bywater armed robber is sought
7)2 arrested in Destrehan holdups

Upon closer look, there's not a whole lot of convictions here. We all know that arrests usually amount to shit in the Big NO.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Thursday's Buisness

See, the volume is so high, even the Times-Picayune is lagging behind. It's not just NOMB:

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday night in the Broadmoor neighborhood, according to New Orleans police.

The shooting took place about 10:35 p.m. in the 3600 block of Louisiana Avenue Parkway. Second District patrol officers found Larry Gooden lying on the sidewalk with several gunshot wounds.

A Day Late Ms. Coco

Everyones been talking:
From the 7th Ward.

The man appeared to be 20 to 25. He was 5-foot-7 and weighed 145 pounds. He had all his teeth, including a gold tooth on the upper right area of his mouth. He was light complexioned.
The victim had these tattoos: "Ms. Coco," on the left thigh; a drawing of a naked woman on the left inner forearm; "Big Mike," on the outer left upper arm; "Fatt" or "Fatty," on the left arm; "Darryl," on the left wrist; "Belinda," on the left hand; a butterfly on the back of the left shoulder; "B," in the middle of the back; and "Queen," on one buttock, and "B@#$HV," or "B@#$HY," on the other buttock.
He wore a long blond wig, makeup, a short blue skirt, three tanktops and gold shoes.


Are they looking for someone to help them identify Ms. Coco? Are they making commentary? About fast living and tank tops? Light skin tranny tricks?
Either way, Queen Bitchy AKA Ms. Coco didn't get the same kindness as the Kenner Crack Head:

This headline has understatement written all over it.

Troubled life cut short, cops say
Drugs, prostitution raised risk, chief says


Kenner police on Tuesday identified a woman who was found dead in a vacant lot north of Louis Armstrong International Airport as a convict barely three weeks out of prison.
Chief Steve Caraway said Bobbie Joe Hulsey, 21, had been jailed on drug and prostitution charges, which point to a lifestyle that likely figured into her death.
"This choice of lifestyle often leads to this result," Caraway said, adding, "Nobody deserves to die like this."


Ms. Coco neither.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

To Busy To Die

Today, while working jobs in Treme, NOMB sees a whte man with pompador and tattoos hanging flyers in all the telephone poles. As the neighbors hang around the corners and the porches, this man put up his posters advertising a $3000 reward fo infomation on his friend who was murdered in July.
NOMB kept working, moving through the hood and watching for the words:

New Orleans Police are investigating the murder of a man this morning in the 7th Ward.
Patrol officers responded shortly before 8 a.m. to a house in the 2400 block of New Orleans Street and found a man lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to the body, according to a news release.


Think you can just stand around? Check this..

Bullets meant for a group of juveniles in Central City missed their mark Monday and sent two innocent bystanders into surgery, New Orleans police said.
The women, 23 and 21, were in the 3000 block of First Street about 5:30 p.m. when a dark-colored car passed. People in the car fired at a group of juveniles, said Sabrina Richardson, a police public information officer. She said the attackers missed their intended targets, and bullets hit the women below their waists.


And, just to recap for all you listeners out there:
New Orleans police were busy over the weekend, investigating eight unrelated shootings that killed one person and sent eight more to the hospital. One of the shootings involved a police officer who shot and wounded a 22-year-old man near North Claiborne Avenue and Annette Street in the 7th Ward, according to police records.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Sleeping

That's what we've been doing: What ya'll be doing?

Four people were shot, including one wounded by police, in about an hour's time Sunday evening, New Orleans police said.

The police shooting occurred after a confrontation near St. Bernard Avenue and Annette Street in the 7th Ward about 7:20 p.m. About 7:45 p.m., a man and woman were shot in the 3100 block of Copernicus Street in Algiers. The incident took place near Murl Street, about a block north of Wall Boulevard.

And about 8:15 p.m., a man was shot in the 1000 block of Josephine Street, in the Lower Garden District. Someone drove the victim from the scene, between Constance and Magazine streets, to Touro Infirmary


Looks like ya'll been hella busy with the shootings

Also:
A woman who was shot in Kenner Sunday was found outside Clearview Shopping Center in Metairie, Kenner police said.

The logistics of this sentece are confusing, Times-Picayune. Do you mean she was shot earlier in Kenner, then found in Metairie. Or perhaps the knew she was shot, but didn't know where she went, then found here hanging out at Orange Julias (sic)? Eitherway...

Friday, September 7, 2007

The Morning After

The yelling in the bullpen. The sulking Saints fans. The quiet block and the angry sushi chef. Only one thing can come from this...

A Metairie woman was shot dead in front of her home this morning in a blighted neighborhood near Mike Miley Playground.
Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies said Jackie Craig, 24, wounded in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene outside 319 Eisenhower Ave. They had no immediate suspects or motive. Witnesses reported hearing Craig arguing with someone, then gunshots rocked the street.


Gunshots "rocked" the street? The Times-Picayune is writing some good sentences these days.

How many murders can we really have in N.O. East before someone takes some action. NOMB supposes that the murders could be perpetrated in the city and then dumped out in no man's land, but still.

A 25-year-old New Orleans man was found dead late Wednesday in a car in eastern New Orleans.
Police received a report of gunfire shortly before midnight near the intersection of Hayne Boulevard and Trapier Avenue, said Sgt. Joe Narcisse, a New Orleans Police Department spokesman.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Voyerism vol. 2

This one just made us stop and read:

A Terrytown teenager was booked with murder Tuesday in the shooting of a Marrero man in July, and he also will face attempted murder charges in New Orleans involving a double shooting in Algiers last month.
Kendrick Woolridge, 17, of 917 E. Monterey Court, was booked with second-degree murder, illegally carrying a weapon, resisting a police officer and battery of a police officer with injury. He is accused in the fatal shooting of Robert Wilson, 42, in the 900 block of Beechgrove Boulevard near Westwego on July 16. Woolridge is being held in lieu of $760,000 bond at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, but also has a hold on his release because of warrants from New Orleans police.


This one is recently relevent:
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators are trying to determine who shot an intoxicated pedestrian who then ran into a Metairie convenience store and collapsed Wednesday afternoon.

Don't worry though, he's gonna live.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

All Quiet On

The block today. It's kinda nice people. A light rain, a little sun, some ice tea.
Soak it up.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Laboring Day

We work, even when aren't supposed to, us non-profit professionals. We make phone calls. We worry. Our empathy - a weapon used against us.

The killers in the street, yea, they working too:

A 27-year-old man was shot to death Monday afternoon in Hollygrove, New Orleans police said.
The shooting occurred about 2 p.m. in the 8600 block of Belfast Street. The victim, who was found lying in the street with several wounds to the head and body, was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders.


My beat, kids:
Two men were shot in the 7th Ward on Sunday evening after a man began firing a gun at St. Bernard Avenue and Marais Street, New Orleans police said.
Two men, ages 20 and 40, were injured, police spokesman Garry Flot said. Their wounds were not thought to be life-threatening, he said. The attacker fled on foot, Flot said.


A Marrero man was in critical condition Monday evening after being found shot in the chest in an empty lot about a mile from his home, authorities said.
Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies found Brandon Washington, 19, in the 1600 block of Julie Street in Marrero, around 8:30 p.m. Monday.


Let's all take a moment off our feet and sit a spell.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Vacation

In Mississippi, kids go to house parties, drunks drive their cars into the front window of the local record store, and there is a scandal. Someone, two white males in their early 20's have spraypainted "Wake up Hattiesburg," on city hall and the Vietnam memorial downtown prompting an op-ed piece about graffiti effecting growth.

Back home, we got this:
Two men were shot, one fatally, in separate incidents Friday night and Saturday morning in Kenner, police said.
Kenner officers found Lorocco Goliday, 26, of 719 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Apt. C, lying in the street in front of 2734 Helena St. on Saturday about 12:22 a.m., Detective Shaun Watson said.


Also:
In the other incident, Kenner police on foot patrol Friday about 11:30 p.m. saw a man and woman who appeared to be arguing in front of 328 ½ Taylor St. Officers said they saw the man, later identified as Andrae Thompson, 24, of 907 Beauregard St., Ville Platte, take out a handgun and rob the woman of her purse.
As the officers approached, they said, Thompson pointed his handgun at one of the officers, who shot him once in his right arm.


Plus, will this make the numbers? Why do we care? Because. We do.

A man who was shot during a brutal home invasion in eastern New Orleans on Aug. 24 has died, the Orleans Parish coroner's office said Sunday.

Boon Roopmoh, 48, is the third person to die as a result of the attack in the 4800 block of Savoie Court. He was one of seven people who were forced by two gunmen into a house in the Village de l'Est neighborhood where they were robbed and shot. They had been sitting under a carport

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Lets Get To Work

Screw the commentary

1) A 24-year year old Harvey man was shot twice in front of his home Thursday morning, and remains in stable condition at a local hospital.
Col. Robert Garner, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Offfice, said that the man told deputies that shortly before 1 a.m. he was standing in front of his home in the 1700 block of Esther Street, when an unidentified man walked up to him and fired several shots in his direction.


2)A New Orleans man was found shot Wednesday night on Louisiana Avenue, police said.
The man's injuries weren't life-threatening, police spokeswoman Officer Jonette Williams said.
He was shot about 7:30 p.m. in or near a relative's home in the 1900 block of Delachaise Street, and ran to a nearby car wash on Louisiana Avenue where he collapsed, police said.


3)Elizabeth McFerrin arrived at the New Orleans Yacht Club Tuesday morning and smelled dead fish.
She looked out of a window and saw dead fish covering the Municipal Yacht Harbor and more floating to the surface five and six at a time.
By Tuesday evening, McFerrin, general manager of the club, estimated the number of dead fish to be in the tens of thousands.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

KATRINA DAY

People think Katrina was an event, like a balloon popping, that occurred and passed when the water receded. When they say, "Katrina did this to me," they think they're saying, "water destroyed my house."
But Katrina was an event more in the way Foucault would say "event". That is, the storm represented a fundamental shift in the cities perception of reality. It changed what was fundamentally "true" at any given time. Example:
Pre-K, the government will help, that was true. Post-K, the government does nothing.
Whether or not you believe these statements to be true, on the ground, in the city, they are basic truths that every action and opinion of the disenfranchised classes pivot on.
Katrina was not a storm. Katrina is the name given to the shift in perception that dictates life in New Orleans.
Today is not the anniversary of Katrina. Katrina is still happening. It is everywhere. It makes our lives impossible.

So, here is some "Katrina"
A shooting in Central City left one person wounded Tuesday night, New Orleans police said.
The shooting occurred around the 2600 block of Danneel Street, between Third and Fourth streets, at 9:30 p.m.
The victim, a man, was shot in the face, said Garry Flot, a police public information officer.


NOMB rode by this spot on their bikes around 9:00

Again, Katrina
A man was shot and killed Tuesday morning in the Desire neighborhood, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
He was found by police about 10 a.m., sprawled on the pavement at Humanity and Feliciana streets, said NOPD spokeswoman Officer Jonette Williams.
The man had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Roommate

NOMB notices the roommate is looking peckish. We assume that it is the inevitable stress of non-profit work.
After some badgering it becomes apparent that after arriving from Baton Rouge to her office on OC Haley she decided to have cigarette on the neutral ground.
"WIth all the sound whizzing by my ears," she says. "It took me a while to realize they were shooting."
She hid behind a metal telephone pole until the cops showed up.

Here's the official word:
Two men were shot Monday evening in Central City, New Orleans police said.One was shot in the thigh, and the other in the arm. The man who was shot in the arm was found about 7 p.m. in the 2200 block of Felicity Street. The second victim, believed to have been wounded in the same incident, was found at a hospital, where he had gone on his own, police said.
Police had no suspect or motive.


Out in No-Man's Land:
A 28-year-old man was fatally shot in eastern New Orleans on Sunday night, the latest in a rash of killings in the sparsely populated area.
The man had gunshots wounds to his face and head. He was later identified as Louis Heim, 28, of New Orleans, according to John Gagliano, chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner.


Ugh

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Readership, AT ALL TIME LOW

Moly Ried of the Times-Picayune brings you the following choice dish:

One man was killed and another injured in a gunfight Saturday morning outside a Kenner lounge.

Ron James, 28, was booked with second-degree murder after he was released from the hospital with a gunshot wound.

Responding to a report of gunshots fired outside the Backyard Café & Daiquiris, 433 Veterans Memorial Blvd., at 5:09 a.m., Kenner police found several spent bullets and casings on the Decatur Street side of the lounge.


protect your souls, dear readers, because you're going to have to reconcile the following fact,
While some in the city do their absolute best, others do their absolute worst.

Really, don't pay it lip service, reconcile it with your conscience. Preachy Sunday.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The Emissary

When NOMB worked the case manager beat, we watched as two small Vietnamese girls sat in front of the members of Catholic Charities' Hispanic Forum and offered a partnership of sorts. A sharing of resources between two marginalized groups in the city.

But we never hear about them, until this happens:

Two people were shot to death and five others injured in an apparent barrage of gunfire late Friday night in eastern New Orleans, just a block from where a Vietnamese couple was slain in their home two weeks ago, New Orleans police said. Two victims were listed in critical condition and three people suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

The eastern New Orleans area has been a hotbed recently for armed robberies and home invasions. Several crews of stickup men, all using the same tactics, have struck unknowing contractors and residents, police sources said.


Living out in the East with no protection. While NOPD snags some West Bankers in a 100,000 drug raid that stretched across unincorporated Grenta/Westwego, these folks are battling it out. It's a turf war. Amid other rumors, the following quote is the one true thing we know

The murders shocked the tight-knit Vietnamese community, which as been a flurry of rebuilding activity in an otherwise sparsely populated part of the city.

I would expect to see this situation become more volatile and yet completely unspoken about.

In other turf war news, Hollygrove saw two more shot on Thurs after the 17 year-old got 16 shots:

Two men in their late 20s leaving a corner bar near Eagle and Edinburgh streets were approached by two men, who opened fire, Flot said.

Don't forget about the 7th Ward:
First District officers responding to a report of a shooting shortly after 7:15 p.m. found the man lying in the middle of the street in the 2000 block of North Prieur Street, near Touro Street. He was pronounced dead the scene.
A cell phone that rang intermittently lay on the sidewalk about 40 feet from the body. A New Orleans police crime lab technician put the phone into an evidence bag.


And Central City:
Second District police responded to a report of shooting at Loyola and Washington avenues shortly before 7:45 p.m. A 17-year-old man was shot in the back, and another man was shot in the leg