- Six law-enforcement officers shot in Baton Rouge.
- At least three killed.
- One officer is in critical condition.
- Suspected gunman dead.
- Two “persons of interest” detained.
Six law enforcement officers were shot in Baton Rouge Sunday morning, and at least three are dead in what police called a “senseless” incident and President Barack Obama dubbed a “cowardly and reprehensible assault.”
A Louisiana state police official said the gunman responsible died at the scene.
“This is not an active-shooter scenario,” he said during an afternoon press conference.
Initially, police suggested two other suspects could be at large. Later Sunday, a police spokesperson said two “persons of interest” had been detained, according to the Associated Press.
Three of the officers shot were members of the Baton Rouge Police Department, and three were East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies. Two of those killed were from the Baton Rouge PD, while one was an East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputy.
According to WAFB, the policemen killed were identified as:
- Montrell Jackson, 32, an officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department.
- Matthew Gerald, 41, an officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department.
- Brad Garafola, 45, a deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Of the East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputies, one is critical condition, “fighting for his life,” Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux said. Another suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The final Baton Rouge police officer involved in the incident suffered non-life-threatening injuries, as well.
CBS has identified the deceased suspect as Gavin Eugene Long, a black male from Kansas City, Missouri. He appears to have attacked police on his 29th birthday. Long was an ex-Marine who served seven months in Iraq and was a data specialist, according to CNN. He was divorced in 2011.
‘Ambush’-style attack
The shooting — what mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish Kip Holden called an “ambush”-style attack — occurred early Sunday morning, less than one mile from police headquarters.
Initially, police received a call of “a guy, carrying a rifle” walking near Airline Highway, according to a Louisiana state police official. Law enforcement believes the suspect called 911 himself to lure police to the area, according to NBC’s Pete Williams.
When officers responded, the gunfire began, as can be heard in the amateur video below. After the incident, police said they were using a robot to check for explosives in the area.
During a press conference in Baton Rouge, law-enforcement officials stressed they wouldn’t be answering questions because of the ongoing nature of the investigation. In addition to local and state law enforcement, the ATF, FBI, and the United States’ Marshals Service are currently assisting the investigation, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
‘Unspeakable and unjustified’
“To me this is not so much about gun control, as it is about what’s in men’s hearts,” Gautreaux said. “And until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people, if we don’t do that, and this madness continues, we will surely perish.”
A few days earlier, police arrested people in connection with a burglary believed to be part of a larger “credible threat” to attack officers in Baton Rouge.
“This is an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing. Rest assured, every resource available to the State of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement.
Obama, who was briefed on the situation as it unfolded, condemned what he called a “cowardly and reprehensible assault” in a statement.
“We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear: There is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one,” the statement read.
Tension in Baton Rouge
The officers’ deaths come less than two weeks after five officers were targeted and killed in Dallas, Texas during protests following the police-involved fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge.
The killing was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely on the internet and relations between police and the community have remained tense.
Demonstrators protesting police violence in Baton Rouge were arrested in large numbers last week following the death of Sterling. Local police were criticized for what has been described as a heavy handed response to otherwise peaceful demonstrations in the area.
As reported by Business Insider