Police Kill Five on La. Bridge(UPDATE CONTRACTORS WERE SHOT AT: THE NOPD shot BAD GUYS)

CNN, AP BREAKING ^

[Chucky is a girlie man]

New Orleans PD shot contractors - not thugs - on bridge

Mod point of clarification: The first 100 or so replies below were posted in reaction to reports that the contractors had been fatally shot.

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Mod Update

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The Associated Press
Police shot and killed at least five people Sunday after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs, authorities said.

Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six.

Fourteen contractors were traveling across the Danziger Bridge under police escort when they came under fire, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers.

They were on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to help plug the breech in the 17th Street Canal, Hall said.

None of the contractors was killed, Hall said.

The bridge spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.

No other details were immediately available.

[TomGuy]

MSNBC showing the incident now.

Part of it was caught on tape.

[nicmarlo]

That's the only pertinent question.

An individual was not named in their original story...only that it was a "spokesman for the Army Corps" who confirmed....no name provided.

[alicewonders]

You know, it's like the "looters" (you could substitute the word "insurgents" in Irag) are trying their best to keep lawful order & authority from being re-established in New Orleans.

I've heard a lot of those looters are prisoners that were released because of the flooding. I'm guessing a good percentage of those prisoners could have been Muslim. Do you think they're trying a little "terrorism" on our home turf?

[TheDon]

Isn't it bad English to mix your propaganda memes?

[LibertyRocks]

It certainly doesn't resemble anything I was taught while working on my school paper in High School back in the 80s, and it doesn't reflect those I admired when contemplating a career in journalism...

I've been thinking of going back to school and one option was journalism - although I don't think I could stand working for hardly any of these news outlets!

[GeorgiaDawg32]

I've heard that yes they were released, but they were kept on a bridge in custody..not released into the general population..

[nicmarlo]

if the initial report was a lie, why was it AP's first instinct to lie about this?

I say, bias; it causes one to jump to conclusions/insinnuate/be less than honest/look through a distorted prism.....intentional or not.

[LibertyRocks]

I saw a press interview with the head of the Dept. of Corrections right after the storm hit and he said that no prisoners of any kind were simply "released" into the city. I can't deny that he would have reason to cover it up, but I doubt they would... Now, there were probably enough people on probation and uncaught criminals to make problems anyway.

[PureSolace]

MSNBC showing the incident now.

Part of it was caught on tape.

If parts of it appear on the web, please send us a link. Peace.

[wimpycat]

I don't think the AP "lied" about it, nor did the CoE. It was just based on inaccurate information. The CoE probably knew their guys had been shot at on a bridge, then they hear the NOPD say they killed some people on a bridge before they know the condition of their guys...you see how initial reports can get mangled.

[nicmarlo]

It certainly doesn't resemble anything I was taught while working on my school paper in High School back in the 80s, and it doesn't reflect those I admired when contemplating a career in journalism...

It's become a disgraceful enterprise, as a whole. It's a shame, because even though there are good, honest reporters...ultimately, the way the organization handles the truth, reports the news/truth, reports stories, is driven by political hacks, i.e., the editors and/or owners.

[angkor]

I don't think I could stand working for hardly any of these news outlets!

I did, and most of my otherwise-chummy pals (e.g. from Popular Science, Boston Globe, etc)would assert that it was possible to be an "objective" journalist, despite their near-unanmimous leftie viewpoints.

They were all in agreement that they were 100 percent "objective".

[HateBill]

I took a break from Fox to watch MSNBC and pay dirt. They were interviewing Col. Ricard Wagenaar of the Army Corps of Engineers who actually knew FIRSTHAND about this incident since the contractors reported to him directly. 14 contractors were fired upon by snipers in high rise project nearby. STATE POLICE fired back (compliments to NOPD were premature!). The Army Corps of Engineers are accompanied by armed security wherever they go, and some of the engineers are armed as well.

[nicmarlo]

It was just based on inaccurate information.

And perhaps because the AP liked the inaccurate information...they didn't want to pursue it.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

You know, that would be an interesting experiment..sit down one liberal reporter, one conservative reporter..hand each identical 2 or 3 page descriptions of an incident, and then compare how each article came out..and gauge the difference..

[wimpycat]

Oh, please. Escaped convicts and/or gangbangers and drug addicts don't need a political or religious reason to act like beasts in the midst of chaos.

[faithincowboys]

I really, really want to see who the NOLA police guys who did this are. Wouldn't be surprised if they are from Metarie-- the token non-homeboys on the force.

[DCMB]

Bingo. I was just thinking the same thing.

[uncbob]

I also belive that it would be hard for them to know so quick any accurate info.

That's what happens when the MSM wants to first with a story

[angkor]

Army Corps of Engineers are accompanied by armed security wherever they go, and some of the engineers are armed as well.

DoD employees (not contractors) can opt-in for weapons and must be trained.

I'd be very surprised if the contractors were armed, that would be unusual.

Having armed support would be expected.