New Orleans Mother’s Day parade shooting: 19 people wounded including two kids

Nineteen people have been wounded after three gunmen opened fire at New Orleans Mother’s Day parade, police says.

The victims included two children, a 10-year-old girl and a boy, who were grazed by bullets. Ten men and seven women are among those wounded. Police say most injuries are not life-threatening,

It is unclear what sparked the shooting in the city’s 7th Ward on Sunday afternoon. Police say three suspects were seen fleeing the area.

The incident happened at about 14:00 at the intersection of Frenchmen and Villere streets.

“Shots were fired with different guns,” a police statement said.

“Immediately after the shooting our officers saw three suspects running from the scene.”

The shooting happened at what is known as a second-line parade – an impromptu community procession in which people dance down the street behind the official parade.

About 200 people were in the area at the time.

“It appears that these two or three people, just for a reason unknown to us, started shooting at, towards, or in the crowd,” Police Supt Ronal Serpas told reporters earlier.

“It was over in just a couple of seconds.”

New Orleans has a high rate of gun crime.

The area where the shooting happened is a poor neighborhood that is still recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.