In case you missed it, a gunman opened fire on a Mother’s Day Parade crowd in New Orleans on Sunday in what has become a depressingly overlooked incident in the country. Nineteen people were shot and the alleged gunman had been on the loose ever since. But that’s no longer the case. Take it away NOLA.com.
New Orleans police on Wednesday night arrested 19-year-old Akein Scott in the Mother’s Day second line parade shooting that left 19 people hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Scott had been on the run for three days. He was arrested in the Little Woods neighborhood of eastern New Orleans, said officer Garry Flot, spokesman for the New Orleans Police Department.
“CAPTURED!” read a message posted on NOPD’s Facebook page. The usual $2,500 Crimestoppers reward had been increased to $10,000 for information leading to Scott’s arrest.
Police say Scott opened fire on Sunday about 1:45 p.m. on the annual Mother’s Day second line organized by the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club as the parade passed the intersection of Frenchmen and North Villere streets.
If the Mother’s Day shooting doesn’t really seem to matter to you for whatever reason, there’s at least the heartbreaking story of Ka’Nard Allen who has lost multiple family members to violence in the last year and was himself shot at the parade. He’s become the face of the incident and you can’t help but want to hug him or any kid you see for the next few hours.
Now we’ll see what Scott’s motives were and how this plays into the events of Sunday.