NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The attorney for the family of a 20-year-old unarmed man fatally shot by police says a funeral home report indicates Wendell Allen had a hole in his back, which they contend is evidence he was shot from behind.
That would contradict findings of the Orleans Parish coroner's office and New Orleans Police Department, which have both said Allen was shot in the chest.
The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/HV5VAW ) Allen's family and their attorney, Lionel Lon Burns, on Wednesday accused police of a "cover-up."
Coroner Frank Minyard stands by his finding. He says Allen was killed by a single gunshot to his left chest, with the bullet lodging against the skin of his left back. Minyard says a forensic pathologist later cut into Allen's back to remove the bullet.