NEW ORLEANS — His client was wrong in driving the wrong way down Bourbon Street but troopers could have selected another way to halt the situation other than shooting him, attorney Jeffrey Smith said of Eric Kullander, who was shot after troopers running alongside his car first failed to get him to stop.
Video of the incident shows two troopers running alongside the car traveling the wrong way down Bourbon Street. The car slows, then appears to move forward again, at which time a trooper fires into the car.
Kullander was taken to the hospital and released late Saturday. Police released him from custody after posting bail.
Smith said the gunshot went into Kullander near his stomach area and out his back.
Smith said he can’t speak for the exact circumstances behind his client’s traveling the wrong way, but he admitted Kullander made a mistake and was in the wrong, he just thinks he didn’t need to be shot.
“I just wish that he wasn’t shot…” he said. “I can’t imagine that the police don’t have training or techniques… on how to disable the car (another way).”