By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
In what appears to be a big break in a long drawn out investigation, a former lieutenant for the New Orleans police department pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to covering up a police shooting involving multiple victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department said.
Ex-Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the Sept. 4, 2005 shooting on the Danziger Bridge that resulted in two people dying and four being seriously wounded. Authorities said the investigation into the matter is continuing.
Authorities said the incident involved at least seven police officers, who drove to the Danziger Bridge “in a rental truck in response to a call for police assistance.”
“On the east side of the bridge, the officers encountered six civilians (five members of the B Family, and J. B., a friend of the B Family), who were walking across the bridge to get food and supplies from a supermarket,” according to a Justice Department press release.
“The officers fired at the group of civilians, killing J. B. and seriously wounding four members of the B Family. Officers then traveled to the west side of the bridge, where they encountered Lance and Ronald Madison, who were crossing the bridge to visit the dentistry office of one of their other brothers. An officer shot and killed Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old severely disabled man.”
Authorities said when Lohman “arrived on the scene shortly after the shootings, he noticed that there were no guns on or near the dead and wounded civilians.”
After determining that the involved officers could not justify the shootings, Lohman “personally drafted a 17-page report, which he knew to be false, and provided that report to an investigator to submit as the official incident report.”
