Trial opens for cops charged in Katrina killings

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A trial opens this week for five current or former New Orleans police officers charged in deadly shootings of unarmed residents on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

It’s a case that stunned a city with a long history of police corruption.

Jury selection will begin Wednesday in the federal case spawned by the fatal shootings of two people and wounding of four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the 2005 storm.

One officer is accused of shooting a mentally disabled man in the back before a sergeant stomped on him. The same sergeant allegedly fired on unarmed people lying on the ground. Officers also are charged with plotting to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to make the shootings appear justified.