Here is an article, partial printed below about it from a journal:
JournalSeptember 09, 2005
Gretna, LA Police Chief says NOLA evacuation route closed to keep people away
Gretna, Louisiana is a self-described "bedroom community" in Jefferson Parish, LA, that lies on the opposite bank of the Mississippi River from a portion of the city of New Orleans.
New Orleans residents get to Gretna by way of the US 90 bridge - The Crescent City Connection - and the Westbank Expressway.
In a recent interview, the Gretna Police Chief, Arthur Lawson, admitted that the bridge was closed to foot and vehicle traffic to prevent people from using it to escape the hell that downtown New Orleans had become.
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.
"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said.
Lawson said that once the storm itself had passed Monday, police from Gretna City, Jefferson Parrish and the Louisiana State Crescent City Connection Police Department closed to foot traffic the three access points to the bridge closest to the West Bank of the river.
He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx.
"There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people.
If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."
Not only that, but police officers stationed themselves at the foot of the Crescent City Connection-US 90 bridge and actually fired at (or at least over the heads of) people who attempted to use the bridge to escape New Orleans. A web posting on WDSU-TV's web page tells the story.
two paramedics, who were trapped in the city while attending a convention, joined a group of people who had been turned out by the hotels that they were staying in on Wednesday. When the group attempted to get to the Superdome -- designated by city authorities as a shelter for those unable to evacuate -- they were turned away by the National Guard.
"Quite naturally, we asked ... 'What was our alternative?' The guards told us that that was our problem, and no, they did not have extra water to give to us.
"This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile law enforcement."
As they made their way to the bridge in order to leave the city "armed Gretna sheriffs (sic) formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads."
Members of the group nonetheless approached the police lines, and "questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge ... They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City.
two paramedics, who were trapped in the city while attending a convention, joined a group of people who had been turned out by the hotels that they were staying in on Wednesday. When the group attempted to get to the Superdome -- designated by city authorities as a shelter for those unable to evacuate -- they were turned away by the National Guard.
"Quite naturally, we asked ... 'What was our alternative?' The guards told us that that was our problem, and no, they did not have extra water to give to us.
"This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile law enforcement."
As they made their way to the bridge in order to leave the city "armed Gretna sheriffs (sic) formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads."
Members of the group nonetheless approached the police lines, and "questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge ... They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City.
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This is just the first part of the article, the rest comes from some sheep who want the sheriff/chief arrested and charged with homicide.
FWIW