Drive-by shooting, which occurred in the Lower 9th Ward, wounded five people, three of them under the age of 13

New Orleans shooting kills two and leaves two children critically injured

New Orleans police were investigating a drive-by shooting Monday that killed a man and an 18-year-old woman and wounded five other people, three of them children.

The shooting happened around 8pm Sunday in the city’s Lower 9th Ward, a neighborhood that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and has struggled with crime.

A woman and two children aged 2 and 4, were in critical condition and a 13-year-old girl and a 37-year-old woman were in stable condition, according to Officer Frank Robertson.

All the victims were in front of a house when a dark car occupied by several men drove up, opened fire and sped off, Robertson said. Police have not release very many details of the shooting or a description of the suspects.

The Lower 9th, a predominantly black neighborhood less than 5 miles from the bustling tourist district of the French Quarter, was overwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina’s floods in 2005.

The shooting is the latest in a city dependent on tourism. In June, two men exchanged gunfire on Bourbon Street, killing one person and wounding nine others.