New Orleans police officer admits coverup

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A New Orleans police supervisor has pleaded guilty to cover-up charges in the shooting of six people after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the U.S. attorney says.

Lieutenant Michael Lohman, who retired from the department earlier this month, admits helping craft police reports riddled with false information about shootings on Danziger Bridge that left two people dead and four others injured in September 2005, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced Lohman's guilty plea Wednesday on the steps of the federal courthouse.

The plea document contains explosive details of an alleged cover-up and increases pressure on the six officers and one former officer charged in connection with the shootings and subsequent investigation, the Times-Picayune says.

The newspaper says It is unclear when Lohman started cooperating with federal authorities but now appears he is prepared to testify against the other defendants.

A spokesman for New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin did not respond to a request for a comment.