Chicago woman shot, wounded while dining at New Orleans restaurant

A Chicago woman was shot while dining at a New Orleans restaurant Friday evening.

The shooting, which happened outside Mandina’s restaurant, killed a 23-year old waiter. One bullet penetrated the inside of the restaurant and struck the 54-year-old Chicago woman who was in town for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

She was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, New Orleans police said. She was at the restaurant to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

Terri Hemmert, WXRT-FM radio host, was also at the restaurant, posted that the shooting victim was her friend, according to a Facebook post.

“I did start my big birthday party. It was interrupted by a hail of bullets. 28 of my precious friends were hitting the floor. I looked to my right. Two very special women were on the floor by my feet. There was blood. And a bullet hole on the wall. Two inches from me. And a bullet in my friend’s back. It was surreal. But it was real. Only too real,” Hemmert wrote in the Facebook post about the shooting.

The shooting was an isolated incident targeting the waiter and did not occur near the jazz festival site, New Orleans police said.

“I will spare you some details, but the point here is that when you get tired of hearing about these shootings think again. It’s no longer a figure of speech when you say you dodged a bullet,” Hemmert wrote. “I have a friend who will carry a bullet in her back. We all will never forget that trauma.”

Contributing: Associated Press