News - State
Witness: Cop in Katrina shootings used racial slur
Posted: Jul 5, 2011 11:48 AM by AP
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A jury has heard testimony that a New Orleans police officer used a racial epithet in explaining why he fired at the back of a teenager fleeing the scene of deadly shootings on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina.
Testifying Tuesday at a trial for five current or former officers charged in the shootings, former officer Kevin Bryan recalled asking fellow officer Ignatius Hills why he fired two shots at 14-year-old Leonard Bartholomew IV from the rear of a rental truck that police drove to the Danziger Bridge.
Bryan said Hills responded that he tried to "pop a round off" at the black teenager, using a racial slur to describe the youngster.
Hills, who is black, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and testified last week as a prosecution witness.
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