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Three Police Officers Killed and Several Wounded in Baton Rouge Shooting | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Three police officers were shot dead and seven others wounded in Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday, Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, said. | |
In a statement, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said the shooting unfolded at about 9 a.m. Sunday in the vicinity of the Hammond Aire Plaza on Airline Highway. Officers responded to the scene from both the sheriff’s office and the Baton Rouge Police Department. | |
“Multiple officers from both agencies sustained injuries and were transported to local hospitals,” the statement said. | |
The shootings came after a month of violence and extraordinary tension, as the Republicans gathered in Cleveland for their presidential convention. Five police officers were killed in Dallas on July 7 as protests erupted around the country following the deaths of two African-American men at the hands of police officers in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis. | |
Mark Clements, who lives near the shopping center, said he was in his backyard when he heard shots ring out. | Mark Clements, who lives near the shopping center, said he was in his backyard when he heard shots ring out. |
“I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off,” he said in a telephone interview. “We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then.” | “I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off,” he said in a telephone interview. “We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then.” |
In a statement, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana called the shooting “an unspeakable and unjustified attack.” | |
“Rest assured,” he said, “every resource available to the State of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.” | |
Protests have been held along Airline Highway, which also runs in front of Police Headquarters, since the police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge on July 5. At about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the road was closed in both directions, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported. | |
Images and video posted to social media showed a large presence of police vehicles along the road. | |
A local broadcaster, WAFB, broadcast video of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, where wounded officers had been transported, on lockdown. |