Philip Chacko, a hotelier who moved to New Orleans in 2007, was fatally shot at about 9:40 p.m. on Sunday, August 30, 2009. The attack happened inside the Midtown Hotel, which he owned and was renovating in the 3900 block of Tulane Avenue after flood damage. Two individuals reportedly entered the hotel and shot Chacko. He was taken to a nearby hospital and died shortly after arrival.

Chacko was active in the city’s recovery after Hurricane Katrina, providing shelter for the homeless and offering hotel space to displaced church congregations. He was a husband and a father. The New Orleans Police Department investigated the homicide and appealed to the public, but in the months after the shooting no clear leads or arrests were publicly announced and the case went cold.