A Rouse grocery store in the central business district was evacuated and a man was arrested after an attempted armed carjacking in the area Monday night, New Orleans police said.
NOPD Spokesperson Reese Harper said police were called to the intersection of O'Keefe and Girod streets after an armed man attempted to carjack someone. Harper said the victim fled, ran to a safe location and called police.
Joel Lee Miller, 38, was arrested a short time later in the 700 block of Barron Street, Harper said.
At 8 p.m., approximately nine NOPD vehicles and one Louisiana State Police unit surrounded the store at 701 Baronne Street, and officers directed traffic at the intersection of O'Keefe and Girod.
Rouse employees gathered outside the store's Girod Street entrance, as did people across the street near the CVS, which also closed at 8:15 p.m. The cause of the evacuation is unclear, but people who were present said customers could be seen running out of the grocery store shortly after. before police arrived on the scene.
Rouse reopened at 9 p.m.
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