Surveillance video shows shootout with New Orleans police officers

555 Security footage has been released by New Orleans police in the shootout between an armed robbery suspect and officers which wounded five innocent bystanders downtown. The release of video Thursday comes after the Feb. 17 encounter between the suspect and police near Canal Street and Elk Place in a busy area of the Central Business District. New Orleans police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson discussed the video release with reporters during a news conference Thursday afternoon. "At no point, let me be clear, were our officers firing unless being fired at," Ferguson said. Reginald Bursey, who was shot and killed by police, was suspected of being a gang member in Texas and was a person of interest in two armed robberies in New Orleans, law enforcement sources said. Officials said police were searching for Bursey, and when they found him, the suspected gunman shot at officers. The officers returned fire, killing Bursey. The bystanders who were struck in the shootout were waiting at a bus stop, police said. One of the questions surrounding the investigation was whether the bullets that wounded the bystanders came from the officers or Bursey. Ferguson confirmed Thursday that investigators believe three of the bystanders were wounded by New Orleans police bullets and two others by the bullets the Bursey fired. Investigators have said that Bursey fired first. Ferguson called Bursey a dangerous and desperate individual who refused to surrender peacefully. He said it didn't matter to Bursey whether the police officers were uniformed or in plain clothes. Four total New Orleans police officers were involved in the shootout. A spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department said two of the officers involved in the shootout who fired their weapons have been reassigned until an internal investigation is completed. Officials said the coroner's office findings have been sent to the Independent Police Monitor's Office, the Federal Consent Decree Monitor and the Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau. Investigators used surveillance video, witness statements and ballistics testing to determine whether gunfire from police or the suspect wounded the victims. The bystanders suffered gunshot wounds to their extremities and other parts of their bodies. An officer, who was on his way to Canal Street responding to the shooting, was involved in a car accident that ended with their vehicle overturned. Officials said in an update the officer was expected to recover. Additional updates are expected in the investigation.

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