mamou—city of 3,000 in Louisiana—sees two shootings; 14 shot, two decide to skip mardi gras for n-g naps

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
thursday, march 6, 2025 at 1:58:00 p.m. est

mamou—city of 3,000 in Louisiana—sees two shootings; 14 shot, two decide to skip mardi gras for n-g naps

“(katc) mamou — mamou, LA — a deadly shooting during a mardi gras zydeco event on tuesday afternoon has left the mamou community reeling. what was meant to be a joyous fat tuesday celebration quickly turned tragic, as gunshots rang out, causing chaos and fear among attendees.

“mamou police chief Patrick Hall confirmed that two people died in the shooting, and several others were injured, including two individuals who are in critical condition. the violence has left many residents shaken, with some questioning their safety in the aftermath.

“a video submitted to katc shows a large crowd dancing and enjoying the music of Chris Ardoin, who was performing during the mardi gras event. suddenly, gunshots [sic] interrupted the celebration, causing people to flee and seek shelter. mardi gras decorations still adorned the streets wednesday morning, but police tape now marked the site of the tragic event.

“one vendor from texas, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was close to the scene when the shooting occurred. she described the moment of terror.

“the band was playing, and I was cleaning up when I heard gunshots... immediately i took cover and then there was nothing but mayhem and chaos. it was so scary,’ she said.

“the Evangeline parish sheriff's office and state police investigated the scene on wednesday morning, speaking with residents and trying to piece together the events. police are working to determine the details of both this shooting and a separate incident that occurred the night before, injuring [sic] three people.

“the two shootings, which occurred within a 24-hour period, have resulted in a total of 14 injuries [sic]. mamou’s police chief hall is committed to solving the crimes but acknowledged the challenges his department faces due to limited resources.

“‘we were prepared for it, but again, you can’t control the influx and the impact of the crowds. We thought the weather would make it smaller, but people stayed around. we had the manpower, but you can’t control what’s going on,’ Hall said.”

[N.S.: Obviously, you weren’t prepared for it.]

“councilman Derrell Thomas, and organizer who was present during the event, expressed his heartbreak over the tragedy. ‘this is truly heartbreaking. mardi gras is big in mamou, and it’s the only thing we have,’ he said. ‘first of all, I want to send my condolences to the family because I was on stage, and I had my little ones with me, too.

“katc asked Thomas why the event wasn’t canceled after the monday night shooting on sixth and oak streets. he explained that city leaders had initially planned to cancel the event due to severe weather, but once the weather cleared, everything appeared to be running smoothly. as a result, he and the chief decided to proceed with the event as was scheduled.”

--GRA

N.S.: councilman Thomas should have repeated himself: ‘And cancel the only major social event the town has all year?!’ As it was, his answer was a non sequitur: He's talking weather, when the issue was black violence.