Police gunned down in La.Three officers dead, shooter killed in Baton Rouge, site of protests

By MIKE KUNZELMAN and MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. – A former Marine carrying extra ammunition shot and killed three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers Sunday, less than two weeks after a black man was fatally shot by police here in a confrontation that sparked nightly protests that reverberated nationwide.

Three other officers were wounded, one critically. Police said the gunman was killed at the scene.

The shooting less than a mile from police headquarters added to the tensions across the country between the black community and police.

President Obama urged Americans to tamp down inflammatory words and actions.

"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.

Obama has sought to move quickly to try to defuse the anger surrounding the shootings of black men by police and the recent attacks on law enforcement officers. In the 10 days since five Dallas police officers were fatally shot while providing security for a protest march, Obama has spoken publicly about the matter almost every day.

The Baton Rouge gunman was identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City, who turned 29 on Sunday.

Long, who was black, served in the Marines from 2005 to 2010, reaching the rank of sergeant. He deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009, according to military records.

Although he was believed to be the only person who fired at officers, authorities said they were unsure if he had some kind of help.

"We are not ready to say he acted alone," state police spokesman Maj. Doug Cain said. Two "persons of interest" were detained for questioning in the nearby town of Addis.

They were later released without any charges being filed. Cain said authorities planned to continue investigating whether the gunman got any assistance — "indirectly, directly here or at home."

The University of Alabama issued a statement saying that Long attended classes for one semester in the spring of 2012.

In Kansas City, police officers converged on a house listed as Long's.

It was the fourth high-profile deadly encounter in the United States involving police over the past two weeks. In all, the violence has cost the lives of eight officers, including those in Baton Rouge, and two civilians and sparked a national debate over race and policing.

Authorities initially believed that additional assailants might be at large, but hours later said there were no other active shooters. They did not discuss the gunman's motive or any relationship to the wider police conflicts.

The shooting began at a gas station on Airline Highway. According to radio traffic, Baton Rouge police answered a report of a man with an assault rifle and were met by gunfire. For several long minutes, they did not know where it was coming from.

Nearly two minutes after the first report of an officer getting shot, an officer on the scene is heard saying police do not know the shooter's location.

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.

From his window, Joshua Godwin said he saw the suspect, who was dressed in black with a ski mask, combat boots and extra bullets. He appeared to be running "from an altercation."

Mike Spring awoke at a nearby house to a sound that he thought was from firecrackers. The noise went on for five to 10 minutes, getting louder.

Of the two officers who survived the shooting, one was hospitalized in critical condition, and the other was in fair condition. Another officer was being treated for noncritical injuries, hospital officials said.

The third fatality was Brad Garafola, 45 and a 24-year veteran of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's deputies Nicholas Tullier, 41, and Bruce Simmons, 51, were among the injured. Tullier is in critical condition.

The Baton Rouge attack 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.

Police-community relations in Baton Rouge have been especially tense since the death two weeks ago of Alton Sterling, a black man killed by white Baton Rouge officers after a scuffle at a convenience store. The killing was captured on cellphone video.

It was followed a day later by the shooting death of another black man, in Minnesota, whose girlfriend livestreamed the aftermath of his death on Facebook. The next day, a black gunman in Dallas opened fire on police at a protest about the police shootings, killing five officers and heightening tensions even further.

Sterling's nephew condemned the killing of the three Baton Rouge officers. Terrance Carter said Sunday the family just wants peace.

"My uncle wouldn't want this," Carter said. "He wasn't this type of man."