2 shot dead at New Orleans carnival festival

Two people have died in a shooting that happened at a carnival celebration in the U.S. city of New Orleans, local media reported Wednesday. The shooting happened before midnight Tuesday at a parking lot outside a rapper concert, part of the New Orleans Mardi Gras, an annual Carnival festival in the city, daily newspaper the Times- Picayune reported. New Orleans police were called to the scene to investigate the double shooting as a relatively peaceful carnival season wrapped up. "Two men were involved in a gun battle, which resulted in both of them losing their lives," New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told the media. Both victims were shot several times and pronounced dead on the scene. Serpas said the investigation is very preliminary, but detectives think the shooting was not random. Other details are not yet available. Earlier in the evening, a third person was injured in an unrelated shooting in the carnival event. Police identified the victim as a 25-year-old male who was shot in the shoulder. He was taken to an area hospital where he is listed in stable condition, according to the report. Mardi Gras is New Orleans' signature event and attracts millions of visitors each year. It is a season of parades, masquerade balls, and king cake parties. It has traditionally been part of the winter social season; which at one time was when parties for Southern Society women, dbutante balls, were arranged.