New Orleans man to stand trial for shooting blacks during Katrina in Algiers

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While Bourgeois was not a police officer, the racial dynamics of his case made it notorious and drew scrutiny from federal authorities. Bourgeois allegedly warned that he would protect his Algiers Point neighborhood by shooting “anything coming up (the) street darker than a brown paper bag.”

He was accused of firing a shotgun at three black men who were trying to evacuate on foot through Algiers Point on Sept. 1, 2005, three days after Katrina’s landfall. Bourgeois later allegedly bragged that he “got” one, even displaying the bloodied baseball cap that fell from the head of Donnell Herrington, who was shot at Pelican Avenue and Vallette Street.

Bourgeois is also accused of telling a witness to lie to investigators looking into the shooting. A federal grand jury indicted Bourgeois in 2010, and he pleaded not guilty. Then the case was delayed more than a dozen times because of questions about whether Bourgeois had the physical and mental capacity for a trial.

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A federal grand jury indicted Bourgeois in 2010, and he pleaded not guilty. Then the case was delayed more than a dozen times because of questions about whether Bourgeois had the physical and mental capacity for a trial.

Details about Bourgeois’ health have remained largely under seal, though Lemmon remarked that the defendant was “physically incompetent” to stand trial before postponing the case indefinitely in August 2014.

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