New Orleans.... No leads in case of 5 slain teens

[Janice]

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Detectives knocked on doors Sunday in a search for anyone with information on the killings of five teenagers gunned down in a blaze of semiautomatic gunfire.

Police had no new leads to the killers, said police Capt. John Bryson.

"We're begging citizens -- anyone who may have any information whatsoever to call Crimestoppers," he said.

Bryson acknowledged it would be difficult finding witnesses to the killings early Saturday near the city's central business district.

No motive had been confirmed, but "just the sheer carnage of it, the location of it and the time that it occurred" make drugs or revenge likely candidates, Bryson said.

A semiautomatic weapon was used and "multiple, multiple rounds" were fired, authorities have said.

The dead were Reggie Dantzler, Iruan Taylor and Marquis Hunter, all 19, Arsenio Hunter, 16; and Warren Simoen, 17, all of New Orleans, John Gagliano, chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner, told The Times-Picayune. Gagliano did not answer calls by The Associated Press seeking additional comment Sunday.

Bryson said none of the victims had any convictions. Police could comment on whether any of them had any other police record.

All were believed to have been killed at the same time. Three were found in a sport utility vehicle rammed against a utility pole and two were on the street nearby. Police said they probably all arrived in the SUV.

Along with the city's population, murder and other crimes plummeted for the first months after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city last August. Current estimates vary but the city is believed to have less than half its pre-storm population of about 455,000.

However, crime has been creeping up since then. Although the total of 52 murders since Jan. 1 is half the number at this time last year, 35 of them have been since the start of April, more than double the 17 in the first three months.

City Council members promised swift action against violence as the city tries to repair itself.

"The crime issue -- once it begins to surface itself as a centerpiece again, everything else falls out the window," Councilman Oliver Thomas said. "It just dampens all our possibilities and probabilities."

[SouthFloridawx]

A semiautomatic weapon was used and "multiple, multiple rounds" were fired, authorities have said.

and yet the semi automatic weapons ban was lifted.

[sunny]

This just in from wwltv.com breaking news email alert:

Mayor Nagin has asked that National Guard troops and State Police be deployed after weekend murders.

hmmmm, and here my nephew Brandon was told he was being sent to New Mexico for "Border Patrol" duty....

[sunny]

wwltv.com


City leaders ask for National Guard, State Police to patrol New Orleans

10:57 AM CDT on Monday, June 19, 2006
Cain Burdeau / Associated Press

Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday asked the governor to deploy up to 300 National Guard troops and 60 state police officers to patrol the city following a violent weekend in which five people were shot to death.

City leaders convened a special meeting to voice outrage that five teenagers were killed in an area near central business district on Saturday.

"If we don't have wind knocking us down, we have shooters us knocking us down, and that's unacceptable," said City Council President Oliver Thomas.

The slayings brought this year's murder toll to 52, raising fears that violence was back on the rise in a city plagued by violent crime before Hurricane Katrina drove residents away last year. Saturday's incident was one of the bloodiest in this city's turbulent history.

In addition to requesting help from the state, the City Council said it would consider increasing overtime available for police and pay for more officers and street patrols.


(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[BreinLa]

This is so sad (the kids being murdered)

[Audrey2Katrina]

and yet the semi automatic weapons ban was lifted.

Trust me, this would NOT have prevented the criminals who possessed them, from having them anyway.

A2K

[SouthFloridawx]

and yet the semi automatic weapons ban was lifted.

Trust me, this would NOT have prevented the criminals who possessed them, from having them anyway.

A2K

I know that I was just mad about this happening. I feel so bad for them and thier families. Hopefully more leads can be found in the coming weeks.

[Audrey2Katrina]

It is tragic; and I just wish we knew more about who may have been involved and what their motives.

We don't have enough problems without this sort of ugliness splashed across the TV screens and in the other media outlets. I find it reprehensible that the response thus far has been one of hesitance to use the NG. They prefer using the "State Police".... well then bring in the State Police!!!... this sort of thing has GOT to stop, and those who think they can persist in it need to be shown it will no longer be tolerated. Personally, I don't really care if they re-invoke martial law for a while. I know that sounds drastic, but the elevation of crimes of late are truly concerning, and while we received a lot of exposure for our "exported" criminals last year, I don't think enough is being said about possible "imported" criminals since Katrina. JMO.

A2K

[Janice]

Yes, I think parents need to tell their kids to stay in at night and the city should put a curfew up for teens, etc. till this gets solved.

[BreinLa]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/19/neworl ... index.html

Glad to see this

[Janice]

Yes, Bre... they need to get this under control. There are too many teens, etc. on the loose in that city with no supervision.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Yup... have the full article in my "News from the central GC" thread... It's about time. Something really does have to be done. The curfew isn't a bad idea either.

A2K

[Janice]

I worry so much for that poor city. I hope they get these killers rounded up and figure out what to do with all the crime.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Crime is like fire... the only way to extinguish it is to remove what it thrives on. In the case of fire, it is oxygen and a flammable material to burn, in the case of crime, the roots and causes, while myriad, are often too "hot-button" for some people to come to grips with so the inferno continues. If they'd address, in a meaningful way (meaning with a LOT more than just rhetoric), there would be hope. Unless/until they're ready to make that committment, they're just spitting on a forest blaze that is never going to go out.

A2K

[Janice]

It sounds like they might have a lot of gang activity there. They need to round up the gangs and lock them up. Curfew will work in that regards.....

[Stephanie]

I was glad to hear that on the news this evening. That city is too fragile right now to be able deal with that crap by itself.

[george_r_1961]

http://hamptonroads.cox.net/cci/newsnat ... =D8IBK5HG0

State Troopers and National Guard Military Police will hit the streets of nola tommorow. Its gonna be a different ball game now.

[Janice]

That will be great George. Let's just see how tough those kids are now.

[sunny]

That will be great George. Let's just see how tough those kids are now.

If they are smart Janice, they will run and hide. They are bringing in 100 National Guard today. These guys spent a year in Baghdad. Need I say more?