By BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:14 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2005

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six, a deputy chief said. A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal.

“You have to watch this video to understand, how little regard our government has for the welfare of its own citizens.” – ICH

“Potemkin levee repair staged for George W. Bush?”

White House Lied: Key WaPo Correction

Updated @ 2102: The details in the first story of this post have changed dramatically. Same link.

Updated: 7:20 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2005
NEW ORLEANS – 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.