Officers Found Guilty in Hurricane Katrina Bridge Shootings

CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
The New York Times
August 5, 2011

A federal jury found five current and former New Orleans police officers guilty on Friday afternoon on all counts in the unjustified shooting of civilians just days after Hurricane Katrina, and of orchestrating a wide-ranging cover up over the ensuing years.

The all-guilty verdict brought a decisive close to what the mother of one victim called a “six-year battle” that has dogged this city since Sept. 4, 2005, when the streets were still flooded.

Four of the defendants – Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, Sgt. Robert Gisevius, Officer Anthony Villavaso and former Officer Robert Faulcon – were convicted of federal civil rights violations for coming onto the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans on that day and opening fire on two families. James Brisette, 17, and Ronald Madison, 40, were killed and four others gravely wounded.

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This article was posted: Friday, August 5, 2011 at 1:42 pm

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