[JellyJam]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — 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, 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, including whether any of the gunmen were killed, were immediately available.

[Indy Pendance]

Gotta link?

[Dog Gone]

No other details, including whether any of the gunmen were killed, were immediately available.

Well, if the contractors weren't killed, and we don't know if the gunmen were killed, who exactly is lying in pools of blood?

[wimpycat]

Well, this 'version' of events makes the most sense. I thought it odd, but not out of the realm of possibility given the conditions, that Corps of Engineers contractors would be walking around armed. I also thought it unlikely, but again not completely unlikely, that even the NOPD could mistake armed Corps of Engineers contractors for a lawless gang and start firing. But contractors traveling with a police escort being fired upon and police returning fire makes more sense.

I think the story is starting to gel into a coherent set of facts.

BTW, I have to commend those of the NOPD who haven't quit. The ones who are staying must have a strong sense of duty and love for their city.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Okay. That makes more sense.

[swheats]

Police, shot and killed, five people, group of contractors

AP had a writing assignment or something given the words above and made a story out this.

They couldn't have waited a few minutes to get the full story?

[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.

[El Gato]

None of the contractors was killed, Hall said

But were any of them injured? None of the stories I've seen say.