Baton Rouge Police Shooting: 3 Officers Killed In Possible Ambush, 3 Others Injured

Baton Rouge, LA — Three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge were shot and killed and three others wounded in what Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards described as a "heinous attack on law enforcement."

Tensions between police and citizens have been running high in the area following a police-involved shooting death of a citizen nearly two weeks ago, and police have received "credible" threats against officers since.

The suspect responsible for the shooting was shot dead at the scene. Authorities had previously said there may be two more suspects at large, but officials say there is no active shooter scene and the suspect responsible for the attack has been shot dead, officials said at a press conference.

The gunman was identified by several major news networks as 29-year-old Gavin Long, of Kansas City, Missouri. CNN reported he was a member of several websites focusing on government conspiracies, including one that highlighted "remote brain experiments."

He left the U.S. Marines with the rank of sergeant in 2010, CNN reported, after he had served at least one tour in Iraq.

Residents in the area were asked to stay indoors and to contact authorities if they see anything suspicious.

• Texas Governor Calls Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards With Condolences After Police Killings

• Baton Rouge Police Shooting: Deaths Come in Wake of Mounting Tension
  
• For updates on this story and local news, sign up for free breaking news alerts and the daily Patch newsletter.

Officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office responded to the report of an armed man in the area of Airline and Old Hammond highways around 8:40 a.m., Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson said at the press conference.

Around 8:44 a.m., police received a call of officers down, and just a few minutes later police received a call of more shots fired. The suspect, who was described as wearing all black, was then seen standing near a car wash. Officers engaged with the subject who was then shot dead at the scene about eight minutes from when the first call came in.

Two officers killed were with the Baton Rouge Police Department, and the other was with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office. One of the officers killed in the shooting was identified by the Baton Rouge Advocate as 32-year-old Montrell Jackson. A second officer killed in the shooting was identified

"We want and need your prayers," Edmonson said.

Gillian R. Triche, a combat journalist with the Army Reserves, told Patch she lives less than a block away from the scene of the shooting. She headed to the scene in her truck when she heard shots fired and was forced to shelter in the truck for three hours after that.

Triche made it to a nearby building that remains on lockdown.

The shooting occurred in the area of Airline and Old Hammond highways, the scene of six days of protests after police shot and killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling during an altercation that was captured on video. That came the day before another police-involved death was captured on video in Minnesota.

A day after that, five Dallas police officers were killed in an ambush.

In Sunday's shooting, officers may have been lured to their death by a 911 call that reported a man in the area carrying a rifle. When officers arrived, reports said, the shooter or shooters mowed them down with gunfire.

In harrowing police communications from the shooting, aired by CNN, an officer reports a bullet went through his cruiser's windshield. The shooter appeared to be dressed in all black and was wearing a mask, the officer said.

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux called for people to come together to heal.

"To me this is not so much about gun control as it is about what's in a man's heart," Gautreaux said. "If we don't heal and this madness continues, we will not heal as a people."

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. was visibly emotional as he spoke to reporters.

"I want the officers to know, I support you," Dabadie said. "We are going to get through this."

President Obama spoke with both Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, pledging any support needed by local authorities.

Addressing the nation, a task all too familiar to him, President Obama urged citizens to come together and prove through deeds that the nation will not be divided, adding that it is something Americans will have to do again and again. He said that regardless of motive, the shooting shows the dangers members of law enforcement face daily, saying nothing justifies an attack on police officers.

"This has happened far too often," he said. "Whenever this happens, wherever this happens, we feel it."

“Five days ago I traveled to Dallas for memorial service of the officers who were slain there. I said that that killer would not be the last person who tries to make us turn on each other," Obama said. "Nor will today’s killer."

He cautioned the nation to temper their words, especially ahead of the upcoming conventions where "political rhetoric tends to be more overheated than usual," he said.

"And that is why it is so important that everyone -- regardless of race or political party or profession, regardless of what organizations you are a part of -- everyone right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further," Obama said. "We don’t need inflammatory rhetoric. We don’t need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words and open our hearts -- all of us."

He offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

Edwards issued the following statement on the shooting:

Obama issued the following statement on the shooting before he addressed the nation:

"I condemn, in the strongest sense of the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge. For the second time in two weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault. These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop.

I’ve offered my full support, and the full support of the federal government, to Governor Edwards, Mayor Holden, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Baton Rouge Police Department. And make no mistake – justice will be done.

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. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas – they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country, with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now – all of us – to be at our best.

Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of the fallen. May God bless them all."

Presumptive nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both issued statements on the shooting, Trump blaming the deaths on a "lack of leadership" in the country.

Clinton called the shooting an assault "on all of us."

“Today's devastating assault on police officers in Baton Rouge is an assault on all of us. There is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service of our families and communities. “We must not turn our backs on each other. We must not be indifferent to each other. We must all stand together to reject violence and strengthen our communities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of the police officers who were killed and injured today.”

Trump made the following statements on social media.

On Tuesday, authorities announced the arrest of two young men and a 13-year-old boy who were allegedly plotting to kill Baton Rouge police officers using guns stolen from a pawn shop. Authorities called the threat "very viable."

About 200 activists were arrested during protests last weekend, including noted Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson. Around 100 of those cases will not be prosecuted.

Patch will update this breaking news story.

Image Credit: Gillian R. Triche @Gillianoraptor via Twitter