Police Shot Man Listed As Hurricane Victim

[Nia Imani]

Police Shot Man Listed As Hurricane Victim

By Janet McConnaughey, Associated Press Writer

New Orleans - One of the people included in Hurricane Katrina's death toll in New Orleans was shot by police. Danny Brumfield, 45, was killed by Officer Ronald Mitchell outside the convention center around 2 a.m. on Sept. 3, just before the National Guard arrived to evacuate the increasingly dangerous and chaotic building, police said.

Police said Mitchell and his partner heard what appeared to be a gunshot, and a man jumped onto the hood of their squad car swinging something shiny. Police said he was shot because he appeared to be attacking an officer.

Relatives dispute the police account.

Brumfield's daughter, Shantan Brumfield, and niece, Africa Brumfield, who were both at the convention center, said Brumfield was in front of the building when a commotion broke out. He jumped into the street, they said; his niece said she thought he was trying to stop a police car.

They said an officer hit Brumfield twice with the squad car — a nudge the first time, a harder bump the second. They said the officer shot Brumfield after he leaped onto the hood and, according to his niece, pulled out a pair of shears he was carrying for protection.

The women said the officers ran over his body with their car when they left.

Capt. Marlon Defillo, a police spokesman, said he had not heard any reports about Brumfield being hit or run over by a car. He said the homicide section is investigating.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051010/...4yBHNlYwNmYw--