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At Least 3 Officers Dead, 3 Injured In Baton Rouge Shooting

One witness says men were shooting at each other in a parking lot and “it turned into a gun battle” when police showed up.

  • Three law enforcement officers are dead and three others injured

  • East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says one suspect is dead, two others are believed to be at large

  • The shooting took place a mile away from police headquarters

Three Baton Rouge, Louisiana, officers were killed and another three were injured Sunday while responding to a shooting in the city, less than two weeks after a local man was shot to death by police in a case that drew national attention.

One suspect is dead and a manhunt is now underway for two other possible suspects, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said in statement. 


 

Baton Rouge Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel told The Advocate that two of the dead are Baton Rouge police officers, and one is an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy.

Multiple outlets reported that the Addis Police Department, about 10 miles away, had detained two men in possible connection to the shootings. The men were reportedly seen entering a Walmart store dressed entirely in black, WAFB reported. When they exited, they were wearing a change of clothes. A request for comment from Addis Police was not immediately returned.

SHAYLA EDWARDS
Officers with East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office search the area near Old Hammond Highway in Baton Rouge.

In a statement, President Barack Obama offered his full support to local, state and federal agencies while calling the attacks “the work of cowards who speak for no one.”

“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,” he stated, referencing the July 7 shooting in Dallas that left five officers dead. “These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop.” 

Just before 9 a.m., a call came in to police about a man walking around with an assault weapon, The Advocate reported.

Witness Brady Vancel told WAFB that he saw two people shooting at each other before authorities even arrived.

“There was multiple gunshots going back and forth and back and forth before any police ever showed up. This was not a come-at-police situation,” Vancel said. “They weren’t targeting police at first, I don’t assume so, because these were men out here shooting at each other in an empty parking lot until the police showed and then it turned into a gun battle, I’m guessing to try to get themselves free or get out of the situation.”

 Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Don Coppola told WAFB Sunday morning that the scene “seems to be contained right now.”

“We’re asking everyone to stay out of the area,” Coppola said. 


 

The Hammond Aire Plaza, the reported location of the shooting, is about a mile south from police headquarters.

In a statement, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards asked the public for prayer. 

Attempts to reach police for comment were not immediately successful.

The shooting took place about 5 miles from where Alton Sterling was shot to death by local police on July 5.

His death sparked protests and nationwide outrage after video showed Sterling, who was black, being overtaken by two officers before shots were fired. Cell phone video also emerged appearing to show Sterling was not holding a gun at the time he was shot.  

SHAYLA EDWARDS

Sunday’s shooting follows police deaths in Dallas less than two weeks ago. Lone gunman Micah Xavier Johnson, a 25-year-old Army veteran, shot and killed five police officers and injured seven others as a Black Lives Matter protest was winding down. He had no association with the group.

The Dallas shooting claimed the lives of officers Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and Lorne Ahrens.

After officers tried negotiating with Johnson for several hours, they exchanged gunfire and ultimately killed him by detonating an explosive strapped to a robot bomb-detector.

Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown tweeted his condolences Sunday.



Lydia O’Connor contributed reporting. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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