One dead in shooting at New Orleans high school graduation

An apparent argument in the parking lot after a New Orleans high school graduation turned deadly Tuesday when gunfire broke out.

One woman was killed and two men injured in a shooting at Xavier University shortly after the graduation ceremony for nearby Morris Jeff Community School, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

Relatives identified the woman as 80-year-old Augustine Greenwood, who had just watched her grandson graduate and was caught in the crossfire.

“Some ladies or little girls got into it. Started to fight,” Geraldine Lashley, Greenwood’s daughter, told WDSU. “We started to leave and someone started shooting,”

Greenwood was a mother of six and grandmother of 15, her family said.

At least two women were arguing in the parking lot when one pulled out a gun, NOPD Deputy Superintendent Christopher Goodly said at a press conference Tuesday. “Multiple people” were detained at the scene but no arrests have been made yet.

Patricia Perkins, head of school for Morris Jeff, called Tuesday’s shooting a “horrific tragedy.”

“Morris Jeff is a strong school community and we will unite to help each other heal,” Perkins said in a statement.

“Every day, we teach our children to solve their differences with their words and to be compassionate toward each other. Our graduates will make a difference in this world because they learn to see each other as equal human beings. This resolve is only stronger after today’s violence.”