New Orleans police are asking for the public’s help identifying a man known only by the nickname “Lil Youngin” after he allegedly pulled a gun on a rideshare driver, then chased a woman with unwanted advances and opened fire as she ran into a nearby home in Central City. The July 6 incident unfolded on the 2100 block of Reverend John Raphael Jr. Way, and detectives say the woman was not struck by the gunfire.
According to WDSU, officers were called to the scene around 1:30 p.m. after a rideshare driver reported that a man approached him while he was parking in the area. The suspect allegedly pulled a gun on the driver and told him to leave before turning his attention to a woman nearby. Police said the man made unwanted advances toward her, and when she tried to get away, he allegedly fired several shots as she fled into a home. Officers who responded ultimately met with both the driver and the woman as victims in the case.
A more detailed timeline released by NOPD News on Tuesday confirmed that sequence of events, describing how the suspect first drew the firearm on the parked driver and ordered him away before approaching the woman and opening fire once she ran for the residence. Investigators have identified the pictured person in their bulletin as the perpetrator, per police, though his legal name has not been made public. He is described as a thin Black male with dark skin, standing about 5 feet 3 inches tall, and known to go by Lil Youngin.
A Street Named for a Civil Rights Milestone
The assault took place in the heart of Central City, a densely populated neighborhood in ZIP code 70113 located roughly five minutes southwest of downtown New Orleans, according to property listings for the block cited in local records. The street itself carries its own history: Reverend John Raphael Jr. Way was known as LaSalle Street, and before that Howard Avenue, until the New Orleans City Council renamed it in 2015, per the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission…