A tourist from Oklahoma shot a homeless man on Bourbon Street Monday Night

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Austin Harrison, 28, was booked with aggravated battery, illegal carrying of a weapon and illegal use of a weapon after he was accused of shooting the victim with his father’s .25-caliber pistol, Harrison’s mother was not booked with a crime.

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19-year-old man identifying himself as the victim in the case, Kenneth Bordelon, said he was smoking marijuana and drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer on the street with a group of “hippies.” Harrison walked by, challenged him to a fight then shot him, he said.

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Bordelon, who said he lives out of his truck, described tapping his forehead and daring Harrison to shoot him in the forehead when Harrison pulled out a pistol. Bordelon said he had turned around before he was shot in the back of his right foot by Harrison.

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Harrison was part of a private tour group when he began arguing with a homeless man near the corner of Bourbon and Governor Nicholls streets about 7:40 p.m. Monday. Bordelon said Harrison passed by his group and glowered at them, before Bordelon exchanged words with Harrison and agreed to fight him.

Witnesses told police Harrison suddenly reached into the pocket of his leather jacket as his mother hit him with her purse and tried to yank him away from the confrontation with Bordelon. The mother later told officers that Harrison pulled out his father’s gun, and Bordelon began saying something to the effect of, “You got a gun? Then shoot me.”

Bordelon said he was “kind of drunk” at the time he told Harrison to shoot him in the forehead.

Harrison allegedly pulled the trigger twice. The first gunshot was muted, and police said that was most likely because the first round didn’t properly fire. The second gunshot was much louder and hit the homeless man in the back of his right foot, prompting him to start hopping up and down while muttering, “You shot me.”

Police officers responding to a 911 call were told by witnesses that Harrison and his mother appeared to be leaving their Burgundy Street hotel about four blocks away.

Officers said they stopped the pair as they tried to leave the hotel with their packed bags. They found Harrison’s pistol in his pocket — still loaded — and took him to jail.

Its caliber and ammunition matched that of two spent shell casings that officers recovered at the scene of the shooting, near some drops of blood leading away from the intersection, police said. A witness at the scene identified Harrison, of Midwest City, Oklahoma, as the shooter.

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