Danziger Bridge

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The Danziger Bridge is a vertical lift bridge which carries seven vehicular lanes of U.S. Route 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) across the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana. When this bridge was completed in 1988, replacing a previous bridge of the same name, it was the widest lift bridge in the world. Most marine traffic is accommodated in the down position.

[edit] Shooting controversy

A deadly police shooting occurred on the bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On Sunday, September 4, seven police officers responded to a police dispatch reporting an officer down. According to the police, at least four people were firing weapons at the officers who then returned fire. Nineteen-year-old James Brisette and forty-year-old Ronald Madison were killed in the gunfire, and four other civilians were wounded. All claim to have been unarmed. The police officers involved in the shooting were taken into custody on January 2, 2007 and have been indicted for murder^[1]. The case is still pending, but the prosecutor, Eddie Jordan, who brought the charges has recently (10/30/07) resigned his position following charges of corruption and a judgment against him in a racial discrimination lawsuit^[2]. The future of the case involving the murder charges is now uncertain.