Americans in New Orleans warn ‘don’t come alone’ to this murder capital

NEW ORLEANS – Mardi Gras partiers in the Big Easy shared if they feel safe in a city previously declared the nation’s murder capital after another fatal shooting occurred during a Sunday parade filled with children and families.

“Don’t go here alone,” Ryleigh, from Louisiana, told Fox News while out with friends on Bourbon Street. “Stay safe. Stay in a group.”

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But one woman visiting from Virginia disagreed.

“There’s a bad apple in every bunch,” she said. There’s “nothing to be afraid of. Everybody’s full of love here.” 

New Orleans recorded 266 homicides in 2022 — a 116% increase from 2019, according to the New Orleans City Council crime database. The city recorded the most homicides per capita among major U.S. cities in September but Jackson, Mississippi, unseated it as the murder capital by the end of the year. 

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“We’ve got real problems,” Sally, a New Orleans native, told Fox News on the city’s crime surge. “You have to be careful. You have to be aware of what’s going on.”

The city’s yearly Mardi Gras celebration brought tens of thousands to the French Quarter, lined up along the daily parade routes and packed into bars. On Sunday, one person was killed and four were injured in a shooting along the Bacchus parade route. 

“I’m cautious about being here,” John, visiting from Colorado, said. “We’re taking precautions and staying in safe places as much as we can.”

Kailey, of Louisiana, said she stays vigilant but won’t let fear take away from her Mardi Gras experience.

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“In the back of my mind I’m like, ‘Okay anything can happen,'” she said. “But at the same time if you’re gonna walk around scared, you’re gonna be on your guard and you’re not gonna have fun.” 

But others felt New Orleans was given its dangerous reputation unfairly.

“I feel like it just gets a bad rap from other people,” Dustin, from the Big Easy, told Fox News. 

To hear more from partiers on New Orleans’ crime surge, click here.