Finding Public Information

With the horror of the Boston Marathon bombing still looming overhead, yet another tragedy has taken place at a public event. On Sunday, May 12th, an armed shooter opened fire on people marching in an annual Mother’s Day Parade in New Orleans, Louisiana. The parade had over 400 guests, and it was led by local police officers.

New Orleans Street Violence

New Orleans has a history of violence, and officials have stated that as of now, there is no evidence that this was an act of terrorism. The shooting, which the F.B.I. has described as a “flare up in street violence,” has left 19 people wounded, 2 of them young children. Although there were no deaths reported, police have stated that 3 of the victims are in critical condition.

Surveillance Footage On Social Media

Police have released surveillance footage to the public via YouTube in hopes that someone will have more information about the presumed suspect who can be seen in the tapes. The suspect shown is an African-American man, and he is wearing a white T-shirt and dark denim shorts. The footage shows him running away from the scene after shots were fired.

More Than One Suspect

Police have also said he is not the only suspect, and that they believe multiple shots were fired from different guns. Officers stated that they saw two other suspects running up the street away from the crime, but the man in the surveillance footage is the only one who was caught on camera.

His whereabouts are unknown, and police are offering $10,000 to anyone who has information that could lead to his arrest. They’ve also stated because there were only around 400 parade attendees, they believe there is someone out there who has information about what happened. Police made it clear that anyone who withholds information could be charged as an accessory to the crime.

Why Does This Keep Happening?

It takes a very sick person to inflict such harm on random individuals, especially at events that are supposed to be joyful and positive. It makes me wonder why people choose these types of settings to strike. Here are a couple possible reasons that public events have recently become the targets of these heinous crimes.

1. Crowded Places

Crowded places provide criminals the opportunity to inflict massive amount of damage to many people at once. This could be why terrorist attacks and mass murders often happen in densely populated places or large events such as the Boston Marathon or the Mother’s Day Parade.

2. Easier To Flee

The chaos that ensues after the initial strike might make it easier for the criminal to retreat into the frantic crowd or even to flee the scene. This is especially true with these huge events that have the whole town and law enforcement units present. If all the police are at an event, then the rest of the area would probably be empty and wide open.

3. Infamy

If someone is a serious sociopath, then they think of their crimes as an accomplishment, and they want to be remembered. They want to do down in history for being the cause of something so unthinkable. This means being remembered and feared even long after they’ve been caught or even put to death.

The Future Of Public Events

The fact that things like this keep happening is very disheartening and extremely scary. How can anyone expect to go to a public event without feeling like they are in danger? How will people be able to participate in marathons or parades without the fear that a criminal is nearby just waiting to strike. I know that I would definitely avoid these types of events after everything that has happened recently.

Ashley Welter is a blogger from San Diego, CA. She writes about various different topics including crime and current events. You can read more of her work here. 

About the author
Andreas co-founded Xavier Media® in 1996 and has since been involved in all kinds of development, marketing and making money online.