Enlarge By Gerald Herbert, AP Edna Glover, center, mother of Henry Glover, who police were alleged to have shot and later burned in a car in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, talks to reporters with family and supporters outside the courthouse after a jury reached a split verdict against the men in New Orleans, NEW ORLEANS  In a case that could have widespread repercussions on how law enforcement agents deal with disasters, three former and current police officers were found guilty Thursday in the shooting death of a man and the coverup in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A federal jury took three days to reach guilty verdicts on three of the five officers indicted in the shooting, burning and coverup of the death of 31-year-old Henry Glover. Jurors convicted former officer David Warren, 47, of manslaughter for shooting Glover. Officer Greg McRae, 49, was convicted of torching Glover's body in a car and Lt. Travis McCabe, 40, was convicted of writing a false police report and lying to federal investigators. Warren faces up to life in prison; McRae and McCabe face up to 30 and 60 years each, respectively. Retired lieutenant Robert Italiano, 61, and Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann, 49, were acquitted. Family members of both Glover and the convicted police officers left court in tears. "How can they let them go free?" said Rebecca Glover, Henry Glover's aunt. "We're going to always feel like every one of them should have gone to jail, not just a couple." Julian Murray, Warren's attorney, said he was disappointed the jury would convict a man trying to do his job in strenuous conditions. "Mr. Warren never did anything intentionally wrong," he said. Prosecutors said Warren shot Glover with a personally owned assault rifle behind a strip mall on Sept. 2, 2005, four days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. When two friends and a passerby took the bleeding Glover to a makeshift police compound for help, McRae and Scheuermann handcuffed and beat the friends, prosecutors said. McRae drove a car with Glover in the back seat and torched it near a levee, they said. Glover's scorched body was found in the car. Italiano and McCabe were charged with falsifying police reports to cover up the incident. The verdict is the culmination of the first of several federal investigations into civilian shootings by law enforcement after Katrina, when 80% of the city was underwater and a general lawlessness prevailed. Twenty former or current police officers have been charged in Katrina-related crimes. Allegations of police wrongdoing were so bad that the Justice Department sent agents to the department to train officers and revamp its regulations. "Tonight's verdict is a critical phase in the recovery and healing of this city," said Jim Letten, U.S. attorney for eastern Louisiana. Police agencies across the USA are watching the Katrina cases, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based law enforcement research group. The prosecutions are a reminder to police to plan for disasters and that their actions, even in disasters, will be scrutinized, he said. There is no national protocol for how police officers react in disasters, Wexler said. Each department is responsible for its own plan. "We've learned from Katrina," Wexler said. Police agencies "know now they're going to be held accountable and need to have plans in place." The New Orleans Police Department is vastly different from what it was immediately after Katrina, said Capt. Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans. New training, rules revisions and cooperation with Justice Department officials had improved the department, he said. "Our approach to disasters has changed dramatically," Glasser said. "We've learned a lot from it, and we've come a long way in five years." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more