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.

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.

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'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.

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

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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, 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.