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Gunshots outside a popular New Orleans eatery over the weekend killed a waiter and wounded a tourist visiting the Big Easy from Chicago, authorities said.
Interim New Orleans police Superintendent Michelle Woodfork told reporters that the shooting happened outside Mandina’s Restaurant in the Mid-City neighborhood Friday night.
Woodfork said police believe two suspects who arrived by car targeted the waiter, identified by family members to the Times-Picayune of New Orleans as 23-year-old Hilbert Walker III.
He was gunned down while serving customers dining outside in the 3800 block of Canal Street around 8:20 p.m.
A security guard returned fire, Woodfork said, and was not injured. The shooting sent terrified diners inside the landmark eatery diving for cover.
A 54-year-old Chicago woman was visiting for the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and was at Mandina’s “to celebrate the birthday of a friend” when one of the bullets pierced the front wall and struck her, police said.