[van id=”us/2016/07/17/baton-rouge-officers-shot.cnn”]
CNN [Breaking news update, 8:46 p.m.]
Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola are the names of the three law enforcement officers killed Sunday morning in the shootout in Baton Rouge, according to sources close to the department and corroborated with social media posts. Jackson’s aunt confirmed his death earlier.
[Previous story, published at 8:20 p.m.]
A Missouri man ambushed and killed three law officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge on Sunday during a time when police nationwide and in the Louisiana city in particular have been on high alert after five officers were killed in a Dallas ambush July 7.
Louisiana State Police announced last week that they had received credible threats of lethal plots against Baton Rouge police and had arrested three men and a 13-year-old boy.
On Sunday, a man identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City went on a shooting rampage on his 29th birthday that left two police officers and a sheriff’s deputy dead, police sources said. Long, who was African-American, was a former Marine who spent time in Iraq and was discharged at the rank of sergeant in 2010, according to the U.S. military.
Police have not released the names of the victims but one was identified by family members as Officer Montrell Jackson, according to Jackson’s aunt. “Today isn’t going too well,” she said.
Baton Rouge Officer Montrell Jackson was killed during a firefight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Sunday morning.
Montrell Jackson had posted on Facebook on July 8 how physically and emotionally drained he had been since protests had erupted in Baton Rouge after the July 5 killing of Alton Sterling by police. He stressed his disappointment at “some family, friends, and officers for some reckless comments.”
“But hey, what’s in your heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy, but I definitely won’t be looking at you the same,” the post read.
“I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform I get nasty, hateful looks and out of 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. … These are trying times. Please don’t let hate infect your heart.”
