NEW ORLEANS — A federal jury has convicted five current or former police officers of civil rights violations in the deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

All five officers were convicted today of charges stemming from the cover-up of the shootings. The four who had been charged with civil rights violations in the shootings were convicted on all counts.

Howerver, the jury decided that neither fatal shooting was a murder.

Prosecutors said police shot six unarmed people, killing two, on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the 2005 storm. Officers also were charged with participating in a cover-up to make the shootings appear justified.

Defense attorneys said the officers were shot at before they returned fire and acted reasonably in the face of a deadly threat.


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