Police find vehicle taken in Irish Channel carjacking as investigation continues

The SUV taken by carjackers who fired a shot at their victims in the Irish Channel early this week has been recovered, and New Orleans police investigators are combing it for evidence that may lead to a suspect, authorities said Wednesday.

The carjacking was reported shortly after 12 a.m. Monday in the 1000 block of Sixth Street (near Constance, about a block off Magazine). A woman in her 40s and a friend got out of her 2002 Toyota Highlander, and two men who had walked by moments earlier returned and pointed a gun at them, police said at the time.

The carjackers threatened the suspects — saying, “Give us the f’n keys; shoot the mf’s,” according to the initial police report — and a shot was fired in an unknown direction during the exchange, NOPD Lt. Frank Young said during Wednesday’s meeting of ranking Sixth District officers. The victims put their hands in the air and the woman dropped her keys to the ground, and their assailants drove off in the vehicle, Young said.

Investigators have now found the SUV abandoned in the Pontchartrain Park area, and it was in relatively “good shape,” Young said, so they are processing it for trace evidence. They also recovered a shell casing at the robbery scene, Young said. The victims did not get a good look at their attackers in the darkness during the robbery, so trace evidence from the SUV may be the most fruitful route for the investigation ahead, Young said.

“We’re going to rely on science to provide us with some suspects,” Young said.

Anyone with information — or security footage from the approximate time or location of the robbery scene — is urged to call Sixth District investigators at 658-6060, or to call CrimeStoppers at 822-1111.

Some residents told Tania Dall of our partners at WWL-TV that the incident highlights the need for more anti-crime cameras in the neighborhood, according to this report: