Latest news with #WWL-TV
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Hero' 9-Year-Old Girl Killed While Trying to Get Younger Siblings to Safety Amid Gunfire
Lee'Lani Brooks, 9, was shot while rushing her siblings to safety in New Orleans A stray bullet struck her in the head after gunfire erupted outside her home She was declared brain dead and taken off life support days laterLouisiana authorities say a 9-year-old girl was shot and killed while rushing her younger siblings to safety as gunfire erupted near her house on May 12. Lee'Lani Brooks, 9, was playing outside her home in New Orleans just before 2 p.m. when men nearby began shooting at each other, NOLA, WWL-TV and Fox 8 reported, citing police. Lee'Lani and her mother ran inside their home, but a stray bullet traveled through a window and hit Lee'Lani in the head as she ran to get her younger siblings to safety, the local outlets reported, citing authorities. She was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was placed on life support and declared brain dead, NOLA reported. On May 16, her family made the decision to take her off life support and she died soon after. New Orleans Police arrested 19-year-old Evan Rogers, who as of May 13 faced one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of illegal use of weapons, the New Orleans Police Department said in a statement on that date. It took a four-hour stand-off for U.S. Marshals to apprehend Rogers while he was allegedly hiding out in a hotel, New Orleans police said in the statement. Police have also arrested a second person but did not release that person's name or what charges they face. Lee'Lani's family members have set up a GoFundMe to cover her funeral costs. 'My baby Lee'lani was a sweet, vibrant, and fun 9-year-old child who loved and was loved by everyone around her,' Lee'Lani's mother, Letisha Johnson wrote in the post. 'She was a leader and ensured all her younger family members were protected. Her smile is unforgettable, and her personality was infectious.' On May 20, Lee'Lani's family held a balloon release for the 9-year-old. Johnson was devastated about her daughter's death and told Fox 8 that their family was still processing their grief.'I just want everyone to remember my baby for who she was,' Johnson said, adding that Lee'Lani loved doing her makeup, doing her nails, dancing, and was admired by her family members and friends. 'That's what we want the world to remember her as, a hero, someone who was so selfless at 9 years old,' Mike Willis, a community activist, told the outlet. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Bourbon Street should be closed to traffic, security report recommends
A security review commissioned in the wake of the deadly New Year's Day terror attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans recommends closing off a majority of the historic corridor to traffic and turning it into a permanent pedestrian zone. The report from former New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton and his global consulting firm Teneo, obtained by CBS affiliate WWL-TV, recommends making approximately eight blocks along Bourbon Street a pedestrian zone, from Canal to Dumaine Street. "Teneo Risk remains firm that restructuring Bourbon Street as a permanent pedestrian plaza is the safest and most secure way to mitigate against a future vehicle ramming attack on Bourbon Street and the immediate cross street corners feeding into Bourbon Street," said the report. The recommendation is likely to face pushback as New Orleans business owners and residents opposed a similar idea last month, according to WWL-TV. Teneo's security report is only a recommendation and city officials will make the final decision on future safety precautions. "Ultimately, it is up to the city and the community to determine its risk tolerance for a solution and configuration that deviates from our recommendation," the report states. It also recommends deploying individual police officers along more blocks of parade routes, increasing the use of barricades, drone surveillance and video surveillance, as well as removing all trash containers from the parade route to prevent potential placement of bombs. The report was commissioned after the deadly New Year's Day terror attack on Bourbon Street when a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers. Fourteen people were killed before the attacker died in a shootout with police. Dozens of others were injured in the attack. Weapons and two potential improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were found in the vehicle, authorities said. FBI bomb technicians also found two functional IEDs in coolers in the area. The suspect was seen placing the devices in surveillance video footage, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at the time. Both devices were rendered safe, and two other items were determined to not be IEDs, he said. Supreme Court pauses order mandating return of Maryland man deported to El Salvador What is a bear market and how will Trump's tariffs effect small businesses? RFK Jr. wants CDC to stop recommending fluoride in water
CBS News
09-04-2025
- CBS News
New Orleans' Bourbon Street should be closed to traffic after deadly truck attack, security report recommends
A security review commissioned in the wake of the deadly New Year's Day terror attack on Bourbon Street recommended in a report closing off a majority of the historic corridor to traffic and turning it into a permanent pedestrian zone. The report obtained by CBS affiliate WWL-TV recommends making approximately eight blocks along Bourbon Street a pedestrian zone, from Canal to Dumaine Street. "Teneo Risk remains firm that restructuring Bourbon Street as a permanent pedestrian plaza is the safest and most secure way to mitigate against a future vehicle ramming attack on Bourbon Street and the immediate cross street corners feeding into Bourbon Street," said the report from former New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton and his global consulting firm Teneo. The recommendation is likely to face pushback as New Orleans business owners and residents opposed a similar idea last month, according to WWL-TV. Teneo's security report is only a recommendation and city officials will make the final decision on future safety precautions. "Ultimately, it is up to the city and the community to determine its risk tolerance for a solution and configuration that deviates from our recommendation," the report states. It also recommends deploying individual police officers along more blocks of parade routes, increasing the use of barricades, drone surveillance and video surveillance, as well as removing all trash containers from the parade route to prevent potential placement of bombs. The report was commissioned after the deadly New Year's Day terror attack on Bourbon Street when a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers. Weapons and two potential improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were located in the vehicle, authorities said. FBI bomb technicians also found two functional IEDs in coolers in the area. The suspect was seen placing the devices in surveillance video footage, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said. Both devices were rendered safe, and two other items were determined to not be IEDs, he said. At least 14 people were killed before the attacker died in a shootout with police. Dozens of others were injured in the attack.
CBS News
24-02-2025
- CBS News
Louisiana's oldest death row inmate dies less than month before execution date
A terminally ill man who spent over 30 years on death row in Louisiana for the killing of his stepson died days after a March date was scheduled for his execution by nitrogen gas. Christopher Sepulvado, 81, died Saturday at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, "from natural causes as a result of complications arising from his pre-existing medical conditions," according to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. He was the oldest of the 57 inmates on death row as the state weighed resuming executions after a 15-year pause, CBS affiliate WWL-TV reported. Sepulvado was charged with the 1992 killing of his 6-year-old stepson after the boy came home from school with soiled underwear. Sepulvado was accused of hitting him on the head with a screwdriver and immersing him in scalding water. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1993. His attorney, federal public defender Shawn Nolan, said in a statement Sunday that doctors recently determined Sepulvado was terminally ill and recommended hospice care. Nolan described his client's "significant" physical and cognitive decline in recent years. "Christopher Sepulvado's death overnight in the prison infirmary is a sad comment on the state of the death penalty in Louisiana," Nolan said. "The idea that the state was planning to strap this tiny, frail, dying old man to a chair and force him to breathe toxic gas into his failing lungs is simply barbaric." According to Nolan, Sepulvado had been sent to New Orleans for surgery earlier in the week but was returned to the prison Friday night. According to WWL-TV, Sepulvado's health had sharply declined, and COPD and gangrene led to a recent leg amputation. Louisiana officials decided to resume carrying out death sentences earlier this month after a 15 year pause driven by a lack of political interest and the inability to secure legal injection drugs. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry pushed to proceed with a new nitrogen gas execution protocol after the state's GOP-dominated Legislature last year expanded death row execution methods to include electrocution and nitrogen gas. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement that "justice should have been delivered long ago for the heinous act of brutally beating then scalding to death a defenseless six-year-old boy." Murrill added that Louisiana failed to deliver justice in his lifetime "but Christopher Sepulvado now faces ultimate judgment before God in the hereafter." Sepulvado's execution was scheduled for March 17. Another man, Jessie Hoffman, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and slated for execution on March 18. Hoffman initially challenged Louisiana's lethal injection protocol in 2012 on the grounds that the method was cruel and unusual punishment. A federal judge on Friday reopened that lawsuit after it was dismissed in 2022 because the state had no executions planned. The country's first execution using nitrogen gas was carried out last year in Alabama, which has now executed four people using the method.
