More information has emerged on the shooting of two Australian students in New Orleans yesterday. Speculation that it was the result of a drug deal gone bad has been confirmed: the two students didn’t have enough money to pay for drugs they had attempted to acquire.
The Curtin University students, aged 21 and 23, approached a man in a bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans – a popular party spot and bar district – with the intention of purchasing drugs. They were taken in a sedan to the Algiers district of the city, where they were told that the drugs they ordered would cost ‘hundreds of dollars’.
They told the man they didn’t have the money, and after exiting the car were apprehended by another man, who demanded the cash. They couldn’t provide it, and he shot them. One was shot in the stomach, and the other was shot in the chest.
The students were in the United States to participate in the Intercollegiate Mining Games in Butte, Montana. They had flown down to New Orleans for a personal holiday after the games had finished.
Both men are in a stable condition and are recovering from the shooting. It is reported that their parents are arranging travel to America.
Source: News.com.au.
Image: NBC.
