Ex-officer charged in Katrina bridge killing probe
By MARY FOSTER and MIKE KUNZELMAN, AP
55 minutes ago


NEW ORLEANS : Federal officials are charging a former New Orleans police lieutenant with conspiracy to obstruct justice in an investigation of killings by police officers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The charge was unsealed Wednesday and is part of a deal under which Michael Lohman has agreed to help in the investigation of a shooting by seven officers after the storm. The shooting left two people dead and four others wounded at the Danziger Bridge.

The Justice Department's civil rights division opened a probe after a state judge threw out state charges of murder and attempted murder against the seven in 2008. Lohman was not one of the seven.