By Myra Miller Lifestyle Editor
Ben Allison, 22, of Eunice is one of 10 survivors of the early Sunday morning Bourbon Street shooting that killed one person.
“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Allison.
Two gunmen sprayed Bourbon Street with bullets. The gunmen have not been identifed or arrested as of Wednesday.
The man killed in Sunday’s Bourbon Street shooting has been identified as Demontris Toliver, a 25-year-old tatto artist who lived and worked in Baton Rouge.
As of Monday evening, authorities had few answers to give Allison or his fellow shooting victims about why the gunfire started or precisely who was responsible.
Allison took a single bullet to his left knee and underwent surgery at University Medical Center in New Orleans Monday.
Allison was in New Orleans during the weekend with friends and cousins for the Bayou Classic football game. They enjoyed the game, food and battle of the bands together, and made a stop on Bourbon Street.
Allison, walking with his group, said, “There were so many people around us, and we couldn’t run away. I heard shots, many shots.
“I could only think to stay close to the wall and continue to walk fast against the wall, and trying to protect others from our group. Next thing, I knew I was shot. I felt pain, like a tree getting hit with an ax.”
According to Police Superintendent Michael Harrison in New Orleans the two men who shot at each other had been involved in a fight earlier in the night, but police have not said when or where it happened.
A team of several homicide detectives along with state and federal agents are looking for the men responsible for the shooting.
Allison is thankful and grateful to God for sparing his life, however, sorry and saddened about the death of a man.
Allison, as of Tuesday morning, was resting at his grandparents home in Eunice. Allison was in pain, but says he feels he will make a complete recovery. He will require physical therapy once the swelling goes down.
Allison is a 2013 Eunice High School graduate where he played football and basketball. “My football days ... I played wide receiver and cornerback, and basketball I played guard. But now my basketball days are over.”
After his high school graduation, Allison played one year of basketball as a forward at Baton Rouge Community College.
Asked about returning to New Orleans, Allisonsaid a definite “No.”
Allison is the son of Melanie Allison Christie of Youngsville, originally of Eunice.
He is the father of an eight-month-old daughter, Adalyn Jade Miles.