If these are only druggies killing each other, maybe it's not such a bad thing.
I'd be quite surprised if this is anything other than that. New Orleans' murder statistics have had a high "good riddance" factor for as long as I can recall.
___________________________________________________
Unfortunatley, that is incorrect. True, the people doing the killing are often drug dealers or career criminals. But the sad fact is a lot of innocent people (including tourists) get killed or injured (at the very least, mugged at gun point).
It is a way of life in Ciudad de Chocolatate.
Yep. Dary Davies (of the Kinks) was living there and shot in the leg for pursuing a purse thief.
Well, of course. There have historically been "innocent bystander" victims, too, but right now there aren't many innocent bystanders or tourists around (certainly fewer around historical high crime areas). There was a high "good riddance" factor before Katrina, and the probability of the same is even greater now. If these victims turn out to be tourists, or wealthy Uptown residents, then I guess things really will be getting back to normal, sad to say.
New Orleans' economy is more... concentrated at the present time. Fewer restaurants open, fewer convenience stores, etc. Targets of opportunity are therefore even more likely to draw criminal attention. It's an ugly scenario to be sure, and one which the criminal justice professors will be dissecting for decades to come.