BATON ROUGE -- Three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers investigating a report of a man with a rifle were killed Sunday, less than two weeks after a black man was fatally shot by Baton Rouge police in a confrontation that sparked national protests.
Three other officers were wounded, one critically, in the shooting at 9 a.m. less than a mile from police headquarters. Police said the gunman was killed at the scene.
Although the gunman was believed to be the only person who fired at officers, authorities said they were unsure whether he had help.
"We are not ready to say he acted alone," state police spokesman Maj. Doug Cain said. Two "persons of interests" were detained in the nearby town of Addis, but later released without any charges filed.
Officials with the Baton Rouge Police Department identified two of the victims as Montrell Jackson, 32, and Matthew Gerald, 41. Jackson was a 10-year member of the force, while Gerald joined last year after serving in both the Marines and the Army. Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokesman for the East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's office, identified the third officer killed as Deputy Brad Garafola, 45, a 24-year veteran of the sheriff's office.
Hicks said two of the injured were deputies Nicholas Tullier, 41, an 18-year veteran, and Bruce Simmons, 51, a 23-year veteran. The third injured officer was not identified Sunday night.
Hicks said Tullier is in critical condition while Simmons has injuries that are not life-threatening.
Wounded officers were taken to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which was swarmed by police officers Sunday afternoon. Kelly Zimmerman, a hospital spokesman, said five law enforcement officers had been admitted there, three of whom had died from their wounds.
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation identified the shooter as Gavin Long, 29, of Kansas City, Mo. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Long was a Marine who served six months in Iraq, according to his service record. He joined the Corps in 2005, served five years and was made a sergeant in 2008.
Authorities initially believed that other assailants might be at large, but hours later said that no other active shooters were on the loose. They did not discuss the gunman's motive or any relationship to the wider police conflicts.
Cain said authorities are still looking to see if the suspect had any help -- "indirectly, directly here or at home."
One witness described a gunman who was wearing all black and carrying extra ammunition.
It was the fourth high-profile deadly encounter in the United States involving police over the past two weeks. Baton Rouge officers on July 5 fatally shot Alton Sterling, a black man who was selling CDs outside a convenience store. On July 6, a black man was killed by police during a traffic stop in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb. On July 7, five police officers were killed by a gunman in Dallas who said he wanted to kill police officers, particularly white officers.
Obama: Attack on all
President Barack Obama urged Americans to tamp down inflammatory words and actions.
"We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies attacks on law enforcement," Obama said in remarks from the White House.
Obama said that with the Republicans and Democrats beginning their national conventions, elected officials and interest groups should focus their words and actions on uniting the country, rather than dividing it.
"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," Obama said.
The president also seemed intent on demonstrating again his support for law enforcement. The National Association of Police Organizations said that America was in the midst of a war on law enforcement officers, and that the president needed to show political leadership by "supporting them and giving them the resources they need to protect themselves and their communities."
"Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible," Obama emphasized Sunday.
The president spoke earlier Sunday with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden to hear the latest on the investigation into the shootings and to pledge federal support.
Asked whether investigators in Louisiana believed that the police had been targeted, Holden noted that the police were responding to a report of a man with a weapon. Louisiana is an open-carry state.
"Based upon that, it would not seem that they were targeted," Holden said. "They responded to a call that said there's this guy walking along the street in these dark clothes, carrying a rifle."
Speaking at a news conference, Edwards called the shooting "an absolutely unspeakable, heinous attack."
"It's at times like this I wish the command of the English language that I have were more adequate to the task to convey the full range of emotions that I am feeling and to express them on behalf of the state of Louisiana," Edwards said.
"There simply is no place for more violence," he added. "That doesn't help anyone. It doesn't further the conversation. It doesn't address any injustice perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself."
Sterling's nephew condemned the killings of the officers. Terrance Carter said Sunday that the family just wants peace.
"My uncle wouldn't want this," Carter said. "He wasn't this type of man."
And Sterling's aunt pleaded against any more violence.
"Stop this killing. Stop this killing. Stop this killing," Veda Washington-Abusaleh told KLAF-TV, breaking into tears. "That's how this all started, with bloodshed. We don't want no more bloodshed."
The Baton Rouge attack had unfolded hours after a domestic violence suspect opened fire early Sunday on a Milwaukee police officer who was sitting in his squad car. The officer was seriously wounded, and the suspect fled and apparently killed himself, authorities said.
What happened
The superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, Col. Michael Edmonson, said at a news conference that a call came in to police dispatch Sunday morning reporting "a guy carrying a weapon" near the Hammond Aire Plaza shopping center on Airline Highway.
Around 8:40 a.m., law enforcement officers observed the man, wearing all black and holding a rifle, outside a beauty supply store. Within the next four minutes, there were reports of shots fired and officers struck, said Edmonson, whose agency is taking the lead on the investigation assisted by local and federal investigators.
Nearly 2½ minutes after the first report of an officer getting shot, an officer on the scene is heard saying that police did not know the shooter's location.
The radio exchanges were made public Sunday by the website Broadcastify.
Almost six minutes pass after the first shots are reported before police say they have determined the shooter's location. About 30 seconds later, someone says shots are still being fired.
The recording lasts about 17 minutes and includes urgent calls for an armored personnel carrier called a BearCat.
Mark Clements, who lives near the shopping center, said he was in his backyard when he heard shots ring out.
"I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off," he said in a telephone interview. "We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then."
Avery Hall, 17, a worker at a nearby carwash, said he was on his way to work when the gunfire broke out.
"I was about to pull in at about 8:45, and we got caught in the crossfire," he said. "I heard a lot of gunshots -- a lot. I saw police ducking and shooting. I stopped and pulled into the Dodge dealership. I got out and heard more gunshots. We ducked."
After officials in Louisiana identified the shooter as Long, Kansas City police converged about 5 p.m. Sunday on a house listed as Long's.
The officers blocked off the street, ordered reporters out of the area and advised neighbors to stay indoors. Several officers with long rifles and shotguns approached the house. As they did, an unidentified man came out of the house voluntarily and was taken into custody.
"I'm shocked," said Simone Wilson, 29, a neighbor. She said she did not know Long well, but that he appeared to be close to his family, which she said included children.
The University of Alabama issued a statement saying that Long attended classes for one semester in spring of 2012. School spokesman Chris Bryant said university police had no interactions with him.
In New Orleans, some law enforcement agencies are doubling up in response to the shooting.
Sheriff Newell Normand in suburban Jefferson Parish said two-officer patrols began Sunday evening and will continue until further notice. Spokesman Glen Boyd said in an email that members of the department's specialized investigations and criminal investigations teams will join those patrols.
New Orleans police spokesman Tyler Gamble said Chief Michael Harrison decided Sunday to send two single-officer cars out on every call.
Information for this article was contributed by Mike Kunzelman, Melinda Deslatte, Kevin Freking, Julie Pace, Eric Tucker and Gerald Herbert of The Associated Press; by Julie Bloom and Mike McPhate of The New York Times; and by Peter Holley, Wesley Lowery, Mark Berman, Adam Goldman, Matt Zapotosky, Kimberly Kindy, Jessica Contrera, Theresa Vargas, Greg Jaffe, Bill Lodge and April Capochino Myers of The Washington Post.
A Section on 07/18/2016