3 to be arraigned in Katrina police shootings

[July 27, 2010]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Three current or former New Orleans police officers will be arraigned on charges they conspired to cover up deadly shootings of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina.

Sgt. Arthur Kaufman and retired Sgt. Gerard Dugue, who investigated the shootings, face federal charges including obstruction of justice. The indictment claims former officer Robert Faulcon shot Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, in the back as he ran away on the Danziger Bridge.

All three have initial court appearances scheduled for Tuesday.

Five former officers have pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up of the shootings that killed two people and wounded four others less than a week after the 2005 storm. Three other officers have pleaded not guilty.

[Associated Press]

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