mardi gras shooting

What should be an all out celebration has turned violent as police say several people have been shot today along the Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans.Six people, including an infant have been shot on the Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans,US.

The shootings occurred just after the last formal parade float had passed at 1:40pm local time (Tuesday).

Shots erupted during a truck float parade that followed. One victim was shot in the stomach and is in serious condition according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper.

Police lining the parade route on historic St Charles Avenue heard the shots among the crowd at about 1340 local time (1940 GMT).

The infant was grazed along the back but was not seriously hurt, said police spokesman Bob Young.

Medics rushed each of the victims to the Trauma Center at University Hospital in New Orleans. Two men aged 20 were the most seriously injured. Those two Mardi Gras parade shooting victims are in guarded condition according to the New Orleans EMS.

The other victims are in stable condition including a 1-year-old baby boy with a graze wound in the back; a 17-year-old girl was shot in the thigh, while a 50-year-old woman was shot in the elbow and a 30-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the thigh. Each of the victims appeared to be innocent bystanders according to Deputy Chief of police Kirk Bouyelas.

'Everybody was petrified'

"It sounded like a string of fireworks, so I knew it was more than one shooter," witness Toni Labat told teh Associated Press news agency.

"Everybody was petrified. They hit the ground, the floats stopped, everybody on the floats ducked," she said, adding she saw one man dragging himself along the ground and another man bleeding from the mouth, the agency reported.

Doctor Jim Parry, a 41-year-old surgeon, was nearby and tended one man who had been shot in the abdomen, AP reported.

"He kept asking me, 'Was I shot? Was I shot?'," he was quoted as saying.

The two men arrested by police were reported to be aged 18 and 20. Three weapons were recovered when they were held, AP reported.

The shootings marred what had been described as a generally peaceful event, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the historic heart of New Orleans for a day of street parties.

Mardi Gras is New Orleans' pre-Lenten celebration that attempts to rival Brazil's Carnival. Family picnics on the parade route are a common staple, along with plenty of X-rated sights on Bourbon Street. Mardi Gras ends officially Tuesday night and is marked by flashy parades and high spirited celebrants.

Two male suspects were arrested shortly after the incident.