Cop in Katrina Brutality Case Kills Himself

Former New Orleans police officer Lance Schilling, set to be tried next month for the caught-on-camera beating of an unarmed man just after Hurricane Katrina, died yesterday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face. He and his partner were charged with beating a 64-year-old retired schoolteacher who had returned to the city to check on his home.

Schilling's attorney says the impending trial and suicide were unrelated, saying, "The truth be known, he was looking forward to having this matter tried and heard." (More Hurricane Katrina stories.)