All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — After a 14-year-old boy was found shot several times outside a New Orleans home earlier this week, police have released new details surrounding the incident, along with announcing the arrest of three people.
On Tuesday (Mar. 7th), the New Orleans Police Department responded to the intersection of Saint Roch Avenue and North Miro Street. At the scene, officers located the boy suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital and was last reported to be in stable condition.
After investigating, police questioned a teenage boy about the incident who was in the area. That was the latest we had heard regarding the investigation until Wednesday.
New information from the NOPD indicated that the two teenagers (the victim and the boy detained) were reportedly trying to steal a vehicle from a location on North Tonti Street, just blocks from where the boy who was shot was found. The two were riding in a car that had been stolen hours before the incident, according to the NOPD.
When the owner of the car discovered his car was being broken into, police say he opened fire on the two teenagers, striking the 14-year-old who was driving. As the teens fled the scene, the driver crashed into a parked car, which police later discovered contained two stolen weapons and tools for carjacking.
Despite multiple attempts to contact the burglary victim and the alleged shooter, the NOPD finally made contact with the man, later identified as 26-year-old Denzal Peters.
As officers met Peters as he was leaving his home, police say he refused to speak to them. The NOPD issued a search warrant for Peters’ home, in which they found nearly 275 grams (more than half a pound) of marijuana. Peters was then arrested by the NOPD, facing both gun-related and drug charges.
Booking Report
- Teenage male (age not disclosed)
- Possession of a stolen automobile
- Simple burglary of a vehicle
- Possession of a firearm by a juvenile
- 14-year-old male (will be charged after hospital release)
- Possession of a stolen automobile
- Simple burglary of a vehicle
- Possession of a firearm by a juvenile
- Denzal Peters (age 26)
- Aggravated battery by shooting
- Illegal discharge of a weapon
- Obstruction of justice
- Illegal carrying of a firearm while in possession of a controlled substance
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