Hurricane Katrina police 'shot first, asked later'

Police decided to "shoot first and ask questions later" when they shot dead two unarmed people and wounded four others in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a court heard.

Four officers are accused of opening fire on a group on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans after the storm brought devastation to the city in 2005, killing 1,836 people.

The four, and a retired officer, are also accused of trying to cover up the shootings. But the officers claim they feared for their lives and were justified in firing at the crowd.

"They stayed," said Paul Fleming, a lawyer for former officer Robert Faulcon. "They didn't desert. They didn't go work other jobs. They stayed and did the best they could."

After days of rescuing people and hearing gunfire at night, the officers might have been nervous or scared, but they still jumped when needed, he added.

Justice Department lawyer Bobbi Bernstein, the lead prosecutor, said police plotted to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to cover up "atrocities" and tried to use chaotic conditions as an excuse for gaps in their investigation.

"They lied because they knew they committed a crime," Mr Bernstein said. "They lied because they knew police officers were not allowed to shoot first and ask questions later."

Faulcon, Robert Gisevius, Kenneth Bowen and Anthony Villavaso are charged with shooting dead 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who was severely mentally disabled.

Retired Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue are charged in the alleged cover-up, but Dugue will be tried separately from the others.

Frank DeSalvo, lawyer for Bowen, called the government's case a work of "fiction".

An innocent woman whose arm was shot off told how she was walking with her family to a nearby store when the shooting started. Susan Bartholomew fell to the ground. She saw men with NOPD on their uniforms. They shouted at her to raise her hands.

"I couldn't do it because my arm was shot off," she said softly. "I raised the only hand I had." Three other members of her family were injured as they tried to escape the bullets behind the concrete barrier on the side of the bridge, a pedestrian walkway. But the gunfire kept coming, said Ms Bartholomew, 44, who was lying next to her daughter.

Before she began her testimony, the courtroom deputy asked Ms Bartholomew to raise her right hand so she could be sworn in. Wearing a shawl that obscured her injury, she raised her left hand. The deputy repeated the request but after quietly explaining, she was allowed to use her left hand.

Five other former officers have already pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up to make the shootings appear justified. They are co-operating with the government and are expected to testify during the trial, which could last for up to eight weeks.