There’s a particular kind of panic — a heart-stopping, cold-sweat-inducing fear followed by an endless barrage of expletives — that occurs when someone realizes they’ve misplaced their rifle. Unfortunately for one Louisiana Guardsman, it’s a sensation he now knows all too well after leaving their M4 inside the bathroom of a New Orleans hotel on Sunday.
Thankfully, the weapon is no longer missing, a Louisiana National Guard spokeswoman told Task & Purpose on Tuesday.
“The rifle was returned to the Louisiana National Guard,” said Lt. Col. Noel Collins. “The soldier and incident are being handled internally.”
The soldier has been temporarily removed from his duties and is undergoing “retraining” while a review into the incident is pending, Collins said. No further information was immediately available about how the weapon was left in the bathroom, she said.
The M4 was found in the Lafitte Hotel on Bourbon Street. The hotel and bar are located in the French Quarter, a busy and popular destination in New Orleans for tourists and locals.
News of the incident ricocheted around social media after a picture of the M4 propped up against a bathroom wall next to a toilet was posted to the New Orleans subreddit. From there, the story spread across military subreddits.
“The police are now involved but I waited for a National Guard guy to use the bathroom and then after I entered Ii found this assault rifle,” a Reddit user wrote as part of the original post.
Police arrived at the scene after the M4 was discovered in the bathroom. The New Orleans Police Department directed all questions to the Louisiana National Guard.
About 350 Louisiana National Guard troops are deployed to New Orleans, having mobilized in early December under federal Title 32 status ahead of New Year’s celebrations. The authorization runs through the end of February and was meant to cover major events, including the Sugar Bowl and Mardi Gras.
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The troops were mobilized to “enhance capabilities, stabilize the environment, assist in reducing crime, and restoring public trust,” the Louisiana Guard wrote in a Dec. 23 news release
Losing a weapon is a cardinal sin within the military, and it often incurs severe punishments. The commander and sergeant major of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines were both fired in March 2020 after two of the unit’s rifles went missing the previous December in a training area at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
