Police identify suspect in New Orleans Mother's Day shooting

Security camera footage shows a gunman shooting into a crowd gathered for a Mother's Day second line parade in New Orleans

New Orleans police have identified a suspect in connection with the shooting at a Mother's Day parade that injured 19 people, including two children.

Police said the suspect, 19-year-old Akein Scott, remained at large but had been identified by multiple people.

"The time has come for him to turn himself in," New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said.

Serpas said Scott was last arrested in March and has a criminal history that includes charges for possessing narcotics and a firearm and resisting arrest. Police investigated three addresses linked to Scott but could not find him, Serpas said.

Earlier on Monday police released photos that they said showed a suspect in the shooting, which led to tips that helped with the identification.

"People today chose to be on the side of young, innocent children who were shot, and not on the side of a coward who shot into a crowd," Serpas said.

The image singling out the suspect did not clearly show a face, and police asked for the public's help in identifying and finding the person. A $10,000 reward was offered for information that might help find the shooter.

The photographs, taken from a surveillance video, first show crowds of people in a street, and then the crowd is seen scattering and ducking. The final image focuses on what appears to be a man in a white shirt leaving the scene on foot as other people are lying on the pavement.

Ten men, seven women and a girl and a boy, both 10 years old, were shot when one or more people opened fire at the parade on Sunday. The children were grazed but in good condition, police said.

Serpas earlier on Monday said he had not ruled out that the shooting was gang-related or that there was more than one shooter.

Violent crime in New Orleans ranks above the national average in FBI surveys. A poll of residents in 2010 found crime to be their greatest concern.

REUTERS