A well-known New Orleans jazz musician is hospitalized and unconscious after being attacked late Monday night in the city’s French Quarter. According to WLTV, the victim, 54-year-old Doug Potter, is believed to have been a target of the infamous and controversial “knockout” game.
Potter, who plays base for the group Steamboat Willie and his New Orleans Jazz Band, was performing with earlier in the evening at Cafe Beignet on Bourbon Street. The attack occurred shortly after the group’s last set. Surveillance video captured footage two men physically assaulting Potter as he walked to his car.
He was taken to University Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery. He has been in a medically induced coma ever since.
New Orleans Police detectives have studied the video and have ruled out robbery as a motive. They note that suspects left the scene of the crime empty-handed.
They have since released a sketch of one of the two suspects, shown at the right. He is described as a black man and about 5’7” with a stocky build. He has a tattoo between his eyes that appeared to be a letter “W” with a cross above it.
Of the attack, the band’s leader said:
In 2004, we started playing here. All this time we’ve had nothing bad happen. This is the first time something bad has happened.
