Accounts of New Orleans violence may have been overblown

A month after Hurricane Katrina devastating wake also left a trail of horrific tales of murder, rape and gang violence, officials said those stories seem to be exaggerated accounts derived from a chaotic situation, created by uncertainty and paranoia and then escalated by the media and New Orleans officials desperate for help.

Major Ed Bush of the Louisiana National Guard, who entered the Superdome the night Katrina made landfall on August 29 admits there was evidence of violence as the situation worsened, but neither he nor the military police officers on constant patrol at the Superdome found evidence of mass murder and rape.

Possibly the most gruesome story of a little girl gang-raped then murdered in the Superdome appears to be untrue. Jordan said there had been no reports of rape, while coroners have not found a young girl’s body in the sports stadium. —Reuters