The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: TomSea on October 19, 2018, 11:06:37 am
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Man pleads guilty in racially motivated post-Katrina shooting
Updated Oct 17; Posted Oct 17
Roland Bourgeois, Jr., 55, pleaded guilty Wednesday (Oct. 17) to the racially charged shooting of three black men in the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
By Hanna Krueger
hkrueger@nola.com
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
A white man accused of shooting at three black men in a racially motivated attack following Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday (Oct. 17), signaling a possible finale to a years-long legal battle.
Roland Bourgeois Jr., 55, abandoned his previous not-guilty plea as part of a deal with prosecutors, rather than face a trial that was set for Nov. 26.
Bourgeois' case has dragged on for years. He was indicted five years after Katrina on allegations that he fired a shotgun at three black men in Algiers Point during the immediate aftermath of the storm. Since then, his trial was delayed over a dozen times amid questions about his physical and mental health.
Read more at: https://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/10/suspect_pleads_guilty_to_racia.html (https://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/10/suspect_pleads_guilty_to_racia.html)
He might have gotten caught because he boasted about it afterwards. The severity of the wounds of those he shot at are not discussed in the two stories I read. Perhaps, they were not serious. One would have to research it more.
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"The three sustained buckshot wounds to the neck, back, arm and buttocks."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/hurricane-katrina-roland-bourgeois-jr-shooting-hate-crime (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/hurricane-katrina-roland-bourgeois-jr-shooting-hate-crime)