NEW ORLEANS — Seven New Orleans police officers charged in deadly shootings in Hurricane Katrina’s chaotic aftermath arrived to turn themselves yesterday, met by a roar of applause from more than 200 supporters.“Heroes, Heroes,” the crowd shouted, drowning out a small group of protesters that called out, “Police killings must stop.”

Each officer faces at least one charge of murder or attempted murder in the shootings of six people, two of them fatal, on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, less than a week after the hurricane hit.

Uniformed police officers from nearby districts embraced the policemen and shook their hands. The Fraternal Order of Police had encouraged officers to gather outside the jail to show their support.

“These men stayed here to protect our city and protect us, and this is the thanks that is given to them,” said Ryan Maher, 34, a civilian.

Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius and officers Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso are charged with first-degree murder. Officers Robert Barrios and Mike Hunter are charged with attempted first-degree murder, and Ignatius Hills is charged with attempted second-degree murder.

Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19, were shot and killed on a bridge linking two predominantly black, and flooded, neighbourhoods. Both men were black.

“There is a history and a pattern of police brutality here in the city,” said Rev. Raymond Brown with the New Orleans chapter of the National Action Network. He said racism was a factor in the shootings, even though four of the officers are black.

“We see the black officers as just following their master,” Brown said.

A judge said there would be no bond for the four accused of first-degree murder. Hunter posted bail Tuesday; Fraternal Order of Police spokesman said the others could not in part because banks were closed for the national day of mourning for the late US President Gerald Ford.

Six officers were suspended without pay pending the case’s outcome. The seventh, Faulcon, has left the department and is now a truck driver in Houston, said his lawyer, Franz Zibilich.

The officers are scheduled to be arraigned Friday. A first-degree murder conviction carries a possible death sentence. A spokesman for District Attorney Eddie Jordan said Monday that prosecutors have not decided yet whether to seek the death penalty.

The facts of what happened on the Danziger Bridge remain murky. Police say the officers were responding to a report of other officers down and thought that Madison had been reaching for a gun.

Madison’s brother, Lance, who was cleared by the grand jury of attempted murder charges, denies he or his brother were armed.Lance Madison says he and his brother were running from a group of teens who had opened fire on the bridge when seven men jumped out of a rental truck and also began firing at them without warning. The men did not identify themselves as police officers, Madison says.