Four wounded, one critically, in New Orleans Mardi Gras shooting

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans police on Sunday were investigating a shooting that wounded four people outside a Bourbon Street nightclub in the French Quarter as crowds gathered for the city's annual Mardi Gras celebrations.

One man was in guarded condition after being shot in the abdomen, upper thigh and pelvic area Saturday night, police said in a statement on Sunday.

Another man was hit in the buttocks, one woman was shot in the toe and another woman was struck in the chin and foot, police said.

Police said they were looking for three men, whom they did not name. Officer Frank Robertson, a police spokesman, said Sunday that investigators had identified one suspect but no arrests had been made.

The shooting was caught on camera by a bystander, and police on Sunday released footage that they said showed two of the suspects arguing with one of the victims. The two suspects left, then one returned with a companion, approached the man he had been quarreling with and started shooting, wounding the man involved in the argument and three bystanders, police said.

The footage shows a tightly packed crowd outside a Bourbon Street nightclub, with some people wearing Mardi Gras beads and holding drinks.

Crowds gather each year in the city's French Quarter during the celebrations that build to a climax on Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 12 this year.

(Editing by Steve Gorman, Bill Trott and Stacey Joyce)