Ex-Blackwater guards face U.S. jury over 2007 Baghdad shooting

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former security guards for Blackwater Worldwide shot first at a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007 and justified their actions later, federal prosecutors told a jury on Tuesday as the government began presenting its case over a shooting that resulted in the death of 14 unarmed Iraqis.

The guards faced no threats, yet they unleashed their fire on a mother and her son in a white Kia, obliterating the car and continuing to shoot indiscriminately as the guards travelled out of the circle, prosecutors said.