A total of 11 people have been injured in a shooting in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early hours of Sunday.

Two people are in a critical condition in hospital.

Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune that a person of interest has been detained.

French Quarter Shooting

People wait with their luggage to leave the area on Canal Street next to Bourbon Street near the scene of a shooting (Max Becherer/The Advocate via AP)

READ MORE: London Bridge knifeman identified as convicted terrorist

Mr Ferguson said the 10 victims were taken to two hospitals and another walked in.

Further details about their conditions have yet to be released.

The shooting took place on a busy commercial block of Canal Street that has streetcar tracks and is near many hotels.

Mr Ferguson said police quickly responded to the scene as patrols were heightened for this weekend’s Bayou Classic, the annual Thanksgiving weekend rivalry football game between Grambling State and Southern University at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.