Court Date Set In Katrina Shooting

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Mississippi man is set to be arraigned on charges he fired a shotgun at three black men in what prosecutors call a racially motivated attack in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.

One of Roland Bourgeois Jr.’s alleged victims was shot in the throat but survived. Two others had less serious wounds.

Bourgeois, a 47-year-old white man from Columbia, Miss., allegedly opened fire on the men as they tried to leave New Orleans after the August 2005 storm.

A five-count indictment handed up this month claims Bourgeois and others discussed shooting black people and defending a New Orleans neighborhood on the south side of the Mississippi River from “outsiders” after the storm.

Bourgeois is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate Thursday for his arraignment.