Private: Shots Halt Superdome Evacuation

Rescue efforts suspended as lack of law enforcement personnel has led to a total breakdown social order:

The operation to bus more than 20,000 people to the Houston Astrodome was suspended "until they gain control of the Superdome," said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.
He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control."That's not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."
He said medics were calling him and crying for help because they were so scared of people with guns at the Superdome.
Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard said the military - which was handling the evacuation of the able-bodied from the Superdome - had suspended operations, too, because fires set outside the arena were preventing buses from getting close enough to pick up people.
Zeuschlag said shots were fired at a military helicopter over the Superdome before daybreak, adding that when another evacuation helicopter tried to land at a hospital in the outlying town of Kenner overnight, the pilot reported that 100 people were on the landing pad, and some of them had guns.
"He was frightened and would not land," Zeuschlag said.

Criminal Justice