A New Orleans police officer who fired his gun at civilians on the Danziger Bridge a week after Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday, offering a chilling account of what transpired on the bridge that early September day in 2005.
Michael Hunter, 33, became the first officer who actually participated in the shooting to enter a guilty plea. Two investigators have already confessed to playing roles in a wide-ranging cover-up of the police shooting, which injured four unarmed civilians and left two men dead.
Hunter, who resigned last week after he was charged in federal court, contends that fellow officers shot at people they should have seen were unarmed. The account of events Hunter signed Thursday afternoon, called a factual basis, provides the most specific details to date about officers' actions on the bridge, which spans the Industrial Canal at Chef Menteur Highway...
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Police Shot Unarmed Civilians After Katrina, Officer Testifies
Federal prosecutors have accused New Orleans police of shooting unarmed civilians on the city's Danzinger Bridge days after Hurricane Katrina -- and then trying to cover up the incident. One officer has already entered a guilty plea, and yesterday, he spelled out what he said happened. From the Times-Picayune:
Hunter, 33, said a New Orleans police sergeant fired an assault rifle at wounded civilians at close range after other officers stopped shooting and after it was clear that the police were not taking fire. He also says he saw another officer in a car fire a shotgun at a fleeing man's back, although the man did nothing suggesting he was a threat to police.
That man, the Times-Picayune says, was severely mentally disabled, and he died as a result of the shooting, one of two who were killed. Four others were wounded. The attorneys for the accused police say they didn't do anything wrong and, if anything, feel more confident about their case after this latest development -- though they're not saying why...
