Suspect guilty of manslaughter in gunfight
Published 4:38 pm Saturday, January 16, 2016
NEW ORLEANS — A jury in New Orleans late Friday returned a guilty verdict in the trial of the only suspect arrested in a 2014 gunfight on Bourbon Street that left a bystander dead and nine other people wounded.
Trung Le, 22, was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 21-year-old Brittany Thomas, who was visiting New Orleans from Hammond, Louisiana. Le also was found guilty of attempted manslaughter for firing at a still-unknown second shooter.
The defense argued that Le fired in self-defense.
The gunfire erupted early on the morning of June 29, 2014 as tourists strolled the famous street of nightspots. The outbreak of violence stunned the tourism-dependent city, renewed attention to manpower shortages at the city police department and led state police to help beef up the city’s patrols in the French Quarter.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case Friday morning after three days of testimony and evidence including surveillance video of the shooting and its aftermath taken from various angles. The videos were of varying quality and the defense and prosecutors differed on when the second shooter produced a gun and which shooter was the aggressor.