The gunman slain in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday after killing three police officers and wounding three others matched the profile of the Dallas killer — a black former military man who apparently lured cops into an ambush.
Gavin Eugene Long, identified by law enforcement sources as police descended on his Kansas City, Mo., home, was a former Marine sergeant and Iraq War veteran who had been honorably discharged, according to military records. Long, who is black, turned 29 yesterday. Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, the man who killed five Dallas officers on July 7, was a black Army veteran of Afghanistan.
Police have not said anything about Long’s motivation. Johnson told police negotiators after he opened fire during a protest against police brutality that he wanted to kill white cops.
Killed yesterday were Baton Rouge police officers Montrell Jackson, 32, and Matthew Gerald, 41, and East Baton Rouge Deputy Sheriff Brad Garafola, 45.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said yesterday, “The violence, the hatred just has to stop.”
The Baton Rouge killings came 12 days after the July 5 death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man killed by white officers. 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 live-streamed the aftermath of the traffic encounter on Facebook.
The suspect in Baton Rouge yesterday was shot and killed at the scene, cops said. Authorities initially believed that two other assailants might be at large, but hours later said the dead gunman was the only person who fired at the officers.
However, a state police spokesman said investigators were unclear whether the suspect had help from others. Maj. Doug Cain said two “persons of interest” were detained in the nearby town of Addis.
The shooting began at a gas station on Baton Rouge’s Airline Highway, when police were called to a report of a man with a long gun, and the gunman opened fire on them. The suspect was killed next door, outside a fitness center. Police said they were using a specialized robot to check for explosives near the body.
Justin Alford, owner of B-Quik Convenience store on Airline Highway, in front of which the shootout occurred, declined to comment extensively except to say, “Please pray for everyone. Please pray.”
A witness told Baton Rouge television station WAFB that he saw a masked man with a rifle running from the scene where the three officers were killed.
Copyright 2016 the Boston Herald
Tribune News Service
