New Orleans Bourbon Street shooting: Person of interest in custody

A 20-year-old man named as a person of interest in the Sunday shooting on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street was jailed Wednesday, police confirmed.

Justin Odom was booked on shoplifting and traffic infraction charges in the Jefferson Parish jail, authorities said.

No other information on Odom was released.

The news of the arrest came hours after one of the victims of the shooting, a 21-year-old woman, died, police confirmed.

The Hammond, La., woman had been listed in critical condition since the shooting. Local news reports, citing the Orleans Parish coroner’s office, identified her as Brittany Thomas. According to a WDSU reporter, the woman’s sister said the woman had just had a birthday, was set to graduate nursing school and was out Sunday celebrating with friends.

Police are looking for a second person of interest who they said might be a white man named Josh or Joe and was known to associate with Odom.

The shooting started about 2:45 a.m. Sunday and involved “two young men, both armed with firearms, who chose to settle a dispute between themselves without care for anyone else,” New Orleans Police Supt. Ronal W. Serpas told reporters. They exchanged gunfire, hitting bystanders, he said. Bourbon Street, a hot spot for tourists, is full of bars, restaurants and shops.

In addition to the woman who died Wednesday, nine people were injured in the shooting. Three remained hospitalized, police said.

New Orleans is to host the Essence music festival Thursday through Sunday, and the Police Department plans to post extra officers in the French Quarter, which includes Bourbon Street, during that time. State troopers will also be on hand.

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