WASHINGTON (AP) - The New York Times is reporting that FBI agents have found no evidence that Blackwater security guards were fired on when they killed 17 Iraqi civilians in September. The Web site report, citing U.S. civilian and military officials briefed on the case, says the guards were unjustified in killing at least 14 of the civilians and that they violated the rules of deadly force.
Included in the reports is that the FBI has found that as many as five Blackwater employees opened fire during the shootings and that agents are focused on one guard in particular because he was responsible for several of the deaths.
A government official familiar with the investigation tells The Associated Press that no conclusions have been reached.
A previous Iraqi government investigation concluded that the shootings were unprovoked.