http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6063982
The autopsy of Ronald Madison conducted by Dr. James Traylor of the New Orleans Coroner's Office found seven gunshot wounds — five to the back.
The Danziger Bridge incident needs to be understood in the context of a major American city that had disintegrated. "The New Orleans Police Department was overwhelmed," says Anthony Radosti, vice president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission and a former 23-year veteran investigator with the New Orleans police.
"Radio communication was at a minimum. [The police] felt isolated, abandoned. They had no place to live or sleep. Rumors were just wild. Sniper fire, armed individuals on the street. And in some cases, that information was true," Radosti says.