Seven relatives had been meeting at a home in the city's Village de l'Est neighborhood Friday when gunmen forced their way inside, robbed them and then opened fire without warning, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.

A man in his late 20s and a woman in her late 30s sustained fatal wounds, making the incident the second double-homicide in the area in the last two weeks. A husband and wife were killed 15 doors away two weeks ago, but police have found no connections between the two attacks.

However, the pair of double-slayings follows a trend of home invasions in eastern New Orleans typically involving groups of gunmen using similar tactics.

The newspaper said the spike in violence comes as many in the New Orleans neighborhood struggle to repair homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina two years ago.