[Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Our other national lead today, 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis was laid to rest this afternoon in Louisiana nearly a week after two police officers shot and killed the first-grader with autism while they were chasing his father's car. The same day he was buried far too soon is the day we may finally get some answers about just why this happened. Why officers fired 18 bullets into the vehicle when it was stopped at a dead end, with both officers facing the judge. Nick Valencia now join uses from Marksville, Louisiana. We're hearing that one of the officers may have known the boy's father.
[Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Certainly a bizarre set of circumstances surrounding this case, especially after what we're hearing from a source, Jake. A source close to the investigation who tells me that Norris Greenhouse, one of those charged in the murder of that 6-year-old, actually knew the victims prior to the shooting. While he knew them, how the extent of how they knew each other that's being investigated by the Louisiana state police, a big part of their investigation. And now this, the city's mayor telling me there's corruption in this city that he's been trying to get to the bottom of.
[Valencia:] Outside the detention center the local sheriff announces the judge's orders for the two officers charged with the murder of a 6-year-old.
[Sheriff Doug Anderson, Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office:] The judge set the bond. Set at $1 million.
[Reporter:] For each officer?
[Anderson:] For each officer, correct.
[Valencia:] The officers were moonlighting as city marshals in Marksville, Louisiana, last Tuesday night when they opened fire on a car driven by this man, Chris Few. Inside, buckled to the passenger seat Few's son, Jeremy Mardis. The officers fired 18 bullets. The little boy is hit five times, killing him instantly. The father is injured. He was unarmed. Almost a week since, investigators still have not said why they believe the officers pursued the car or why they used lethal force.
[Col. Michael Edmonson, Louisiana State Police Superintendent:] Jeremy Mardis, 6 years old, he didn't deserve to die like that. And that's what's unfortunate.
[Valencia:] The incident is caught on police body cameras. The footage has not been released to the public, but Louisiana state police superintendent says the video played a major role in the arrest. The arrests didn't come as a surprise to Marksville resident Patrick Jeansonne. In January, he won a lawsuit against Derrick Stafford for false arrest when trying to get his dog to the vet during a July 4th parade in 2012. The city is now appealing the decision.
[Patrick Jeansonne, Filed Lawsuit Against Stafford:] When I said I knew he had some play in it one way or another.
[Valencia:] Why is that?
[Jeansonne:] It's just the city of Marksville how they are. They're going to cover for each other.
[Valencia:] This small town now the target of new allegations of corruption. Something even the mayor acknowledges. [on camera]: Is this city corrupt?
[Mayor John Lemoine, Marksville, Louisiana:] Depends the way you look at it. I think to an extent it is. And there are some things that need to be taken care of. And there's some things that need to be looked at very seriously.
[Valencia:] How do you address that as the mayor? Even the mayor of this city is saying there's potential corruption in this city.
[Lemoine:] I plan on meeting with the colonel from the state troopers, and to get and sit with us with the police department and see if we can iron things out.
[Valencia:] Just shocking, Jake, when you consider how casual the mayor was talking about corruption in this city. He went onto tell me that he was actually thrown in jail, arrested based on false accusations from Derrick Stafford, who, of course, is one of those officers charged with the murder of the 6-year-old, Stafford has been an issue and problem here in this police department, and he's been trying for quite some time to try to get him kicked off the force without any luck Jake.
[Tapper:] Nick Valencia with a bizarre and tragic story thanks so much. The sports lead now it's being called the residue leftover from the old Soviet Union, a doping scandal that could keep Russia off the track and at the next Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency today recommending that Russia be banned from international competitions because of widespread doping. An investigation uncovered a deeply rooted culture of cheating at all levels within Russian athletics, including corruption and bribery. The report even accused Russian intelligence, the FSB, of being involved. The Olympics governing body is now considering sanctions against Russia in advance of the next Olympic Games scheduled for summer 2016 in Brazil. You used to go to SeaWorld for one reason, to see Shamu and to watch him do all kinds of tricks. But after some of the killer whales killed sea world trainers and after the CNN documentary "Blackfish," exposed just how brutally parks treat these animals in captivity, today the company says it is now doing away with its main attraction. SeaWorld's CEO promising a new orca experience, one focused on a strong conservation message, he says. But it's only at this one park. The other 10 SeaWorld locations in the United States will keep running the show. The animal advocacy group PETA says the move will do little to improve life for the whales. In our pop culture lead, from a chemistry teacher turned drug lord to a blacklisted Hollywood writer Bryan Cranston now receiving reviews for his latest portrayal. The actor joins me, knocking at THE LEAD, next.