New Orleans – Jury Convicts 5 Officers In Post Hurricane Katrina Shooting

August 6, 2011 | Filed under Headlines | Posted by Preston Richardson

Federal Jury Convicts 5 Former Police Officers

A federal jury in New Orleans ruled for the conviction of five former police officers in the tragic shootings resulting in two deaths and four injuries during the post hurricane Katrina. The verdict on the civil rights charges were issued on Friday. This incident happened on September 4, 2005 when police officers responded to a phone call of fellow officers under fire. At the scene, the police officers shot at the people walking along the Budget rental truck road to the Danziger Bridge.

Two Killed, Four Injured During The Shooting

During the shooting, four were injured while there were two people were killed. A 40 year-old man and a 17 year old boy were reported dead in the incident. The verdict took three days for the jurors to decide. The jurors found that the police lied about the shooting of the group of people crossing the bridge out of town. However, the police officers later on pleaded guilty to the crime charged against them.

Defendants Conspired In The Shooting

It was alleged during the trial that the defendants involved in the shooting conspired. Federal prosecutors testified that Sergeants Kenneth Brown and Robert Gisevius, and police officers Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavasco began shooting on a group of families. The firing started when the family crossed the bridge out of town to get supplies and food. The fifth officer – a homicide investigator, Sgt. Arthur Kaufman helped the other four officers in cleaning up the crime scene. A gun was even planted as an evidence to one the victim’s bodies. The police officers were charged with federal civil rights violations and charged with covering up the incident.
In this article you learned that five former police officers were convicted of federal civil rights violations and charged with covering up the incident. The tragic event happened during the post hurricane Katrina the along the Budget rental truck road to the Danziger Bridge. The decision of the verdict was made by the jurors, taking them three days to reach a decision. A 40 year-old man and a 17 year old boy were reported dead in after the firing. Now, the police officers are going to serve their sentence in prison.