New Orleans Hard Heads Murdering City's Image

New Orleans police have identified an 18-year-old man they think is responsible for killing at least one person in a Christmas night shooting that left two dead and four wounded in Central City.
Also 27 months after Hurricane Katrina, a crime wave is creating headaches for tourism officials.
Just over half of respondents to a University of New Orleans poll released Dec. 10 rated the city a 1, 2 or 3 in crime on a scale of 10, with 1 being “the worst city in the U.S.” The poll of 775 people was taken Nov. 29-Dec. 4 and gauged the impressions of Americans outside Louisiana. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
Roughly one-third of respondents to the UNO poll said they were “extremely unlikely” to visit the city for “business or pleasure” in the next two years.
The country is getting another look at New Orleans with college bowl games, Mardi Gras coming up in February and then the National Basketball Association All-Star game.
In the Christmas murders, a warrant for has been issued for Eldrin George, 18, according to a news release issued late Friday by police spokeswoman Shereese Harper. Police are continuing to gather information to identify other suspects.
Police earlier this week identified George as one of a trio of young men behind a rash of armed robberies that gripped Uptown last month. Police working that case said George has a scar on his forehead and a mole under his right ear, and most recently lived in the 3000 block of Touro Street. They said he is known to frequent the University area.
On Dec. 25, police responded around 6:30 p.m. to the 2400 block of Josephine Street near Freret Street, where they found dozens of bullets from an assault rifle scattered on the ground.
One man was dead at the scene, slumped to the ground against the house, his chin on his chest. Another man was also pronounced dead with gunshot wounds. The victims have been identified as James Jones, 17, and Wendell Millro, 18.
Four others, including a 19-year-old woman, a 17-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a man in his late teens, were wounded. Their names have not been released.