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3-year-old girl shot, killed in French Quarter; Family members taken into custody

Police say the girl was taken to the hospital by EMS where she was pronounced dead.

NEW ORLEANS — It was a typical Tuesday afternoon in the French Quarter when the sound of a bullet echoed through the 400 block of Burgundy Street, leaving a 3-year-old girl dead.

“I walked out the door and heard screaming. The first thing I heard was screaming,” said Jake Stout who lives in the same block.   

After seeing someone franticly running, Stout quickly realized what was happening.

“All I saw was that there was someone on the ground. There were at least probably three or more people that were surrounding her,” he said.

Police say the girl was shot once inside a home, but have not said what may have led up to the shooting or whether they believe it was accidental.

“I had a guy run in the bar that I work at just asking if there were any medics because there was a young girl shot,” said Philip Palumbo, who bartends at a nearby bar.

Palumbo says he immediately called 911, but was put on hold twice.

“They did call back, within about a minute or so but the fact, to get a recording for 911 when you’ve got a child dying on the sidewalk is pretty ridiculous,” Palumbo said.

Thankfully, paramedics showed up when they got that call. The girl was taken to the hospital where she died.

“We do have two individuals detained,” said Eight Police District Commander Capt. Hans Ganthier during a news conference after the shooting.

Police say those two individuals are the 3-year-old’s brothers, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old. Eyewitness News was there as one person was put in handcuffs and into the back of a police car.

Police don’t believe the little girl and her brothers lived in the home, but police say a gun was found. It’s not clear who that gun belonged to.

“We have homicide on the scene, and we have child abuse on the scene,” Ganthier said.

Whatever the circumstances, neighbors are tired of listening to gunshots.

“It’s too much,” Palumbo said. “This is three or four in the last seven or eight months on the same exact block.”

So far, no word on what, if any, charges these brothers face.   

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