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Family of Mardi Gras shooting suspect says he saved them from harm

His attorney wants the second-degree murder charge dropped to manslaughter so he can prove Dingle was justified.

NEW ORLEANS -- The family of a man accused of shooting someone to death along the Uptown parade route Mardi Gras says Eddie Dingle was simply trying to protect their family from harm.

"All we're trying to do is show that is what cooperation looks like between people who justifiably believe that we have the right to use this weapon. We're bringing the weapon to the police detective," Lionel 'Lon' Burns said.

Burns is the attorney for Eddie Dingle who showed Eyewitness News the gun his client reportedly used to shoot and kill a man near St. Charles Avenue and First Street on Mardi Gras Day.

"We have no reason to hide the weapon, we have no reason to not provide the weapon to them," Burns said.

Burns and Dingle's family delivered the weapon to detectives at New Orleans Police Headquarters around 6 p.m. on Saturday. Just hours earlier, Dingle's family gathered to recall the events that led up to the shooting.

"He's running from the median into the street over there by my wife and my son, and at that point, I heard two gunshots. I gathered my kids, and I left," Brenton Coleman, Dingle's father, said.

Coleman said initially on Mardi Gras Day, the family of Maurice Williams set up next to his. He then told Eyewitness News, at some point his other son, Devin Breaud, got into an argument with another man at the parade, and Dingle came over to try and stop the altercation.

"Well, at that time he was struck with the pipe wrench," Coleman said.

Coleman said both sons were then hit, and he shared photos to prove it. Dingle's father believes his son shot Williams when he began charging at his mother, but according to New Orleans Police, the incident started only as a verbal argument.

When asked about guns not being allowed along parade routes, Burns replied that many rules along the parade route aren't enforced.

"There's a lot of things you're not supposed to do," Burns said. "You're not supposed to have grills on the parade route, people do it. You're not supposed to have ladders, people do it. This is basic human safety."

The family also questions the investigation, alleging police didn't interview enough witnesses and failed to properly find any weapons. Dingle's attorney wants the second-degree murder charge dropped to manslaughter so he can prove his client was justified.

Police identified Dingle as the shooter last Wednesday, and he turned himself in Friday.

Dingle is currently being held on a $250,000 bail.

Eyewitness News reached out to police multiple times, but they said at this time they cannot comment further.

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