CLEVELAND (AP) - An attorney for a Cleveland police officer charged in the deaths of two unarmed suspects says the 13 officers who fired at a beat-up car after a high-speed chase in November 2012 feared for their lives when they fired 137 rounds at the vehicle.


The attorney said during opening arguments that 31-year-old Michael Brelo's tactics could be questioned, but his justification for having fired 15 shots from the hood of the suspects' car was to eliminate a threat to his and other officers' lives.


Brelo's trial began Monday on two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of 43-year-old Timothy Russell and 30-year-old Malissa Williams. A judge, not a jury, will decide the charges.


Prosecutors argued that Brelo was enraged when he fired into the windshield.


Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.