NEW ROADS - Saturday's shooting at a Mardi Gras parade in Clinton is raising concerns about the security of many celebrations taking place in the capital area over the next two weeks.

Mardi Gras is a time of joy and excitement, but some residents in the capital area say they don't feel safe at Mardi Gras parades.

"There are always reports of violence. I actually don't feel safe in any large gatherings here, to be honest," Baton Rouge resident Mellany Sherman said.

In New Roads, its Mardi Gras parades can bring in over 100,000 people. Following Saturday's shooting in Clinton, Pointe Coupee Sheriff Rene' Thibodeaux is taking a look at what this could mean for his parish's upcoming parade.

"Well, with the shooting yesterday, I talked to the Sheriff there and some other people," Thibodeaux said. "Possibly two gangs and one of those gangs has ties to Pointe Coupee Parish and New Roads," Thibodeaux said.

Thibodeaux has been having several meetings with parade crews, New Roads Mayor Theron Smith, and Parish President Major Thibaut regarding celebrations. He's worried about having enough manpower for these parades.

"My deputies are very concerned. They're voicing their opinion to me, and I'm bringing that to these meetings. We are understaffed because other places now are starting to have their own little Mardi Gras, and what that is causing is us getting less and less police and manpower to come here," Thibodeaux said.

In the past three years of New Roads Mardi Gras parades, Thibodeaux says law enforcement has seized more than 15 guns from people.

All sheriff's deputies and many New Roads Police officers are scheduled to work, but Thibodeaux says it might not be enough, and all they can do right now is plead for more help.

"In the past, we would have 150 to 200 deputies come from all over the state of Louisiana. That's not happening anymore because some say, 'Hey, who wants to come work on Mardi Gras when you got 100,000 people?"

In Iberville Parish, Sheriff Brett Stassi remembers having to respond to multiple shootings at Mardi Gras parades, including one in Plaquemine in 2012 that left one person dead.

Stassi says Saturday's shooting in Clinton is a reminder to be prepared for anything.

"We cancel all vacations, we bring in everybody we can, the SROs are called back to work traffic, as well as the parade. Also, the detectives who work here. My deputies, some of them work overtime, and some of them work for K-time. There's no money brought down by the organizers to take care of this. We take care of this for the citizens of Iberville Parish," Stassi said.

Along with protecting paradegoers, Stassi reiterated the importance of having sageguards in place for law enforcement.

"We have multiple deputies at each intersection. We try to ensure that the ambulance is positioned where we can get to it. We have enough people that we block all the entrances, all the exits," Stassi said.

WBRZ reached out to the Baton Rouge Police Department to talk about security for the upcoming Spanishtown parade, one of the largest parades in the capital area for Mardi Gras season. When we receive that information, we will put it here.