"What kind of person would shoot at a rescue helicopter?" I've heard that question a lot from a Republican friend who gets most of his news from television. After sorting through the official reports, Knight Ridder has the answer: nobody. It never happened.
On Sept. 1, as patients sweltered in hospitals without power and thousands of people remained stranded on rooftops and in attics, crucial rescue efforts were delayed as word of [helicopter] attacks spread. But more than a month later, representatives from the Air Force, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and Louisiana Air National Guard say they have yet to confirm a single incident of gunfire at helicopters. Likewise, members of several rescue crews who were told to halt operations say there is no evidence they were under fire.
Actually, I shouldn't blame just television. NPR and a Louisiana congressman were repeating the stories, too, as a "feedback loop" kept the rumors going. One of the sources confirming the story for the media last month, the head of one of the ambulance companies, has since found out that the medic who reported that he couldn't deliver supplies to a hospital because of armed crowds on the roof never actually went there, but turned back after hearing a warning over military radio. "It's A talking to B talking to C talking to D. But when A talks to D, it turns out it wasn't really that way."
Apparently there were some actual gunshots at a few places, although under later investigation many of the stories didn't stand up. (One guy was arrested for shooting a .22-caliber rifle in the air as a helicopter flew by, but that was several days after the major rescue operations at hospitals and the Superdome.) The rumors, though, shut down rescue efforts by both helicopter and boat. It's possible that some people who could have been rescued were not. KR quotes Dave Downey, Florida Task Force 1 leader who had overseen the rescue of 400 people the day before the phantom shooters: "In a rescue scenario, every hour that slips by makes the situation more complicated, and the chance for survival diminishes."