Baton Rouge police shootings: The latest updates and what we know so far

THE LATEST COVERAGE:

• Gunman ‘was seeking out’ officers ambushed in Baton Rouge

RECAP

What we know so far:

• Suspect identified as Gavin Long, a Marine who served in Iraq
• Two “persons of interest” arrested
• Three slain officers identified as Montrell Jackson, 32, Matthew Gerald, 41, and Brad Garafola, 45
• Three other officers injured, and one remains in critical condition

THE VICTIMS

Three Baton Rouge police officers were killed in the attack:

• Matthew Gerald, 41
• Montrell Jackson, 32
• Brad Garafola, 45

Matthew Gerald

Matthew Gerald, 41, was the other Baton Rouge officer killed. A former Marine and Black Hawk crew chief in the Army, Mr. Gerald graduated from the Baton Rouge Police Department Academy in March, 2016. He was married and had two daughters. The family lived in Denham Springs, La.

Montrell Jackson

Montrell Jackson, a native of Baton Rouge, was the first slain officer to be identified. At 32, Mr. Jackson had served the Baton Rouge Police Department for 10 years.

Mr. Jackson recently became a father in March, 2016. "I wouldn't trade him for the world though," said Mr. Jackson in a Facebook comment about his son, Mason. Mr. Jackson married Trenisha Jackson in March, 2015.

In 2007, Mr. Jackson and other officers were unsuccessful in trying to rescue a toddler from a large fire at the Newport Villa apartment complex in Baton Rouge. He was later treated for smoke inhalation injuries, reported The Advocate, Louisiana's largest daily newspaper.

In a July 8 Facebook post, Mr. Jackson expressed frustration over the recent protests in Baton Rouge. "I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me," he wrote. "In uniform some consider me a threat. I've experienced so much in my short life and these last 3 days have tested me to the core. When people you know begin to question your integrity you realize they don't really know you at all. Look at my actions they speak LOUD and CLEAR….These are trying times Please don't let hate infect your heart."

Brad Garafola

Brad Garafola, 45, was an East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy. His wife, Tonja Garafola, told The Advocate that he was working extra duty the morning of the shooting. He leaves behind four children – two daughters, 15 and 7, and two sons, 21 and 12. "He loved us so much. He was always bragging about his family," said Ms. Garafola.

Wounded victims

All six of the shooting victims – three officers were wounded – were law-enforcement officials with either the Baton Rouge Police Department or the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, ranging in age from 32 to 51.

Of the three officers injured in the shooting, one of them – a 41-year-old East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy – remains in critical condition.

"Each one of these individuals, married. Each one of these individuals had family," said East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux in a press conference Sunday. "Each one of these individuals had family."

The shooter

• The gunman, killed by police, was Gavin Eugene Long, a 29-year-old resident of Kansas City, Mo.

  

• Mr. Long served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2005-2010, and received an honourable discharge as a sergeant at the E-5 level. While enlisted, he spent two years in Japan and was deployed for one seven-month tour in Iraq in 2008.
• Court records show he filed for divorce in February, 2011, and it was finalized on May 24 of that year.
• The University of Alabama confirmed he was a student at the school for one semester in 2012, where he was on the dean’s list.
• Social media accounts linked to Mr. Long indicate he spent two years travelling in Africa, after which he returned to the United States and began using the alias Cosmo Setepenra. He wrote three self-help books, listed on Amazon.com, using the same alias.
• The YouTube page linked to that name lists numerous videos of him discussing race, oppression and protest. In one video, he talks about going to Dallas three days after five police officers were killed by a lone gunman.
• He describes himself as a life coach, nutritionist and personal trainer.
• Domain records indicate the website, convoswithcosmo.club, was registered April 21, 2016, to a Gavin Long of Kansas City.
  

Where it happened

Police began receiving calls at around 8:40 a.m. (CT) about a man wearing all black and carrying a weapon along a commercial stretch of Airline Highway on the east side of the city.

Police said the shootings took place in and around several buildings: the B-Quik convenience store, a gas station, and outside a fitness centre.

The area was the scene of large protests last week, where angry residents marched, calling for justice for Alton Sterling, recently shot dead by police. More than 100 people were arrested.

The Baton Rouge police headquarters is less than one mile north of the site of the shooting.

REACTIONS

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards

David O. Brown, the police chief in Dallas – a city still reeling from the loss of five of its own police officers in an attack just two weeks ago.

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux

U.S. President Barack Obama

Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party

With reports from Reuters and The Advocate

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