Autopsy: New Orleans police shot man in back in chaos after Katrina

An autopsy shows that a man who was killed by police in the chaos that followed 2005's Hurricane Katrina was shot from behind, a lawyer for the man's family said Wednesday.

Police had said Danny Brumfield, 45, was shot because he appeared to be attacking an officer, but Brumfield's family has sued disputing that account. Brumfield was killed by Officer Ronald Mitchell early Sept. 3, just before the National Guard arrived to evacuate storm victims from the convention center.

The autopsy report, obtained by CNN and confirmed by the family's lawyer, said shotgun pellets went straight from back to front.

"They were standing right behind him when they shot him," said the attorney, Robert C. Jenkins Jr.

The coroner and District Attorney Eddie Jordan did not return a call to The Associated Press on Wednesday. A spokesman for the coroner declined to comment.

Police said Mitchell and his partner heard what appeared to be a gunshot, and a man jumped onto the hood of their squad car swinging something shiny in an apparent attack.

Jordan told CNN he did not feel the autopsy alone was enough to prove criminal wrongdoing by the officer. Brumfield might have been turning or falling off the car when he was shot, Jordan said.

No charges were filed in Brumfield's shooting.