Woman, 80, Shot Dead at Grandson's Graduation

2 others hurt in New Orleans shooting
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2022 7:55 PM CDT
Woman, 80, Shot Dead at Grandson's Graduation
Shoes and clothing sit near evidence markers at the crime scene of a shooting at Xavier University in New Orleans, Tuesday, May 31, 2022.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

An 80-year-old woman was fatally shot minutes after she saw the youngest of her 15 grandchildren receive his high school diploma on Tuesday. Augustine Greenwood was shot outside the Morris Jeff High School graduation ceremony at Xavier University in New Orleans, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Police say two men were injured in the shooting, which happened after two women started arguing in the parking lot of the university's convocation center as graduates and their relatives spilled out of the building, reports USA Today.

Greenwood, a retired housekeeper, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Chris Goodly, deputy superintendent for the New Orleans Police Department, says several people were detained at the scene for questioning but no arrests have been made over the "senseless act of violence." He says Greenwood's death is being investigated as a homicide. Greenwood's son-in-law, Corey Lashley, tells the Times-Picayune that she was shot as the family walked to their car after the ceremony. "Instead of celebrating, we wound up sad, crying," says Lashley, who describes Greenwood as a "sweet, loving person."

"Today, I lost my mother to gun violence," Geraldine Greenwood-Lashley, one of Greenwood's six daughters, said in a Facebook post. She said she had a message for the "young ladies that started all of this." "You have ruined my son and family's world," she wrote. "All you had to do was walk away." Louisiana Gov. Bel Edwards said it was time to talk about moves including expanded background checks for gun buyers, the AP reports. He noted that Tuesday's tragedy came just two weeks after four people were injured in a shooting outside a high school graduation at Southeastern Louisiana University. (More New Orleans stories.)

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