Month: June 2022

According to the New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”), one person was killed and another two were injured outside of Xavier University’s convocation center Tuesday, following a New Orleans high school graduation ceremony.  Shots were fired shortly before noon, when the parking lot was full graduating students from Morris Jeff Community School, and their families. The victim of the shooting died at a hospital, and was a grandmother of one of the graduates.

NOPD deputy superintendent Christopher Goodly said during a press conference that the two injured, both men, were taken to the hospital by New Orleans EMS with non life-threatening injuries. A fight between two women broke out in the parking lot shortly after the ceremony ended, but police did not say whether either of the women involved in the altercation was the shooter. Three people were taken in for questioning, but no arrests have been made, Goodly said. Investigators also confiscated more than one weapon.

Xavier University’s convocation center hosts multiple high school graduation ceremonies each spring. This is not the first graduation ceremony to turn violent this season. A large fight broke out inside Xavier University’s convocation center on May 20 shortly after students from G.W. Carver High School graduated.  Governor John Bel Edwards addressed both high school graduation shootings in a statement Tuesday:  “We must do more to ensure that those who pose an unacceptable risk of harm to others aren’t able to acquire or keep firearms.” Edwards said, adding in light of recent gun violence in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, “gun safety discussions and action involving expanded background checks and red flag laws are very much in order.”

Editorial credit: Elliott Cowand Jr / Shutterstock.com

According to a release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a three-week operation in west Texas dubbed “Operation Lost Souls” has led to the recovery of 70 missing children as well as sex trafficking victims. The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) and ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland, and Ector.

The missing children, many of them who were identified as runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17 years old. Some of the children found were also victims of sex trafficking and physical and sexual abuse, according to ICE. Most of the children were recovered from west Texas, but others were found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

DPS Maj. Matthew Mull said: “At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values. We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work around the clock every day to protect our communities, including our youth.” The agencies also provided victim services and counseling to the children rescued and their families.

El Paso Deputy Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho said in a statement: “Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice.”

No arrests have been announced, but authorities said HSI is investigating “additional information and leads.” If you have information about a human trafficking victim or information about this type of criminal activity, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.

Editorial credit: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com