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Video shows shootout on Canal St. - 3 injured may have been hit by police bullets

Chief Ferguson reiterated that police were forced into the exchange of gunfire with Reginald Bursey after trying to approach him as a person of interest in recent armed robberies.

NEW ORLEANS — NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said that 3 of the innocent bystanders struck in a shootout between police and a suspect on Canal Street on February 17 may have been struck by bullets fired by police.

Ferguson said that the investigation is still ongoing and that the final determination couldn't be made yet.

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He also reiterated that police were forced into the exchange of gunfire with Reginald Bursey after trying to approach him as a person of interest in recent armed robberies.

"New Orleans Police Department were dealing with a very dangerous and desperate individual willing to do whatever it took to avoid capture," said Ferguson. "Within seconds he began firing at our fully-uniformed officers without hesitation."

Five people were injured in the exchange. Ferguson said that body cameras were not in use on the officers at the time of the incident. 

The NOPD said the two officers who fired their weapons during the exchange are: Senior Officer Amit Bidichandani, who was in plain clothes, and Officer Brandon Anderson, who was in uniform. Both have been reassigned during the investigation. 

VIDEO: Breaking down how the shooting unfolded

Ferguson said that officers fired the shots in an attempt to defend themselves and the general public. He said that officers also rendered aid, with one applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding of a victim.

The incident happened near Canal and Elk, but the suspect was able to get away and confronted a State Police officer on Tulane Avenue, where he was shot and killed in another apparent exchange of shots.

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