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| Three police officers killed in Baton Rouge shooting, others injured | Three police officers killed in Baton Rouge shooting, others injured |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Three police officers have been killed after a gunfight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the East Baton Rouge sheriff’s department said on Sunday. | Three police officers have been killed after a gunfight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the East Baton Rouge sheriff’s department said on Sunday. |
| Related: Baton Rouge: police officers 'feared dead after shooting in Louisiana' - live updates | Related: Baton Rouge: police officers 'feared dead after shooting in Louisiana' - live updates |
| Three other officers were injured, spokesperson Casey Hicks said in a statement. One suspect was killed and officers believed “two others may be at large”. | |
| “At approximately 9am Baton Rouge police officers and East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputies were involved in a shooting incident on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway,” the department said. | “At approximately 9am Baton Rouge police officers and East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputies were involved in a shooting incident on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway,” the department said. |
| Baton Rouge police corporal L’Jean McKneely has also confirmed “multiple officers were shot” at a B-Quick Convenience Store near the highway. A shootout with police took place in the area of the shopping center, he said, but added: “that’s what I know for sure right now.” | Baton Rouge police corporal L’Jean McKneely has also confirmed “multiple officers were shot” at a B-Quick Convenience Store near the highway. A shootout with police took place in the area of the shopping center, he said, but added: “that’s what I know for sure right now.” |
| “We’re securing the area with a deceased suspect, a suspect that has been killed. We’re making sure there aren’t any explosives in the area.” | “We’re securing the area with a deceased suspect, a suspect that has been killed. We’re making sure there aren’t any explosives in the area.” |
| McKneely later pleaded with the public to report “anything suspicious” – namely anyone with “long guns, rifles, hand guns” or who was “dressed in black, “army fatigues” or a mask. | |
| “We don’t have any specific detail about what transpired,” he said. “We do believe it’s more than one suspect.” | |
| He stressed that “we’re not sure of anything right now” when asked whether the shooting could be linked to recent protests against police. | |
| Officers were using a bomb-defusing robot to secure the scene, McKneely said, and federal law enforcement and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had joined Baton Rouge police and the sheriff’s department. | |
| One injured officer is in critical condition, another is “fair” and the third in non-threatening condition, a hospital spokesperson said. | |
| Police closed the roads and dozens of officers surrounded the area, live video of the scene showed. | Police closed the roads and dozens of officers surrounded the area, live video of the scene showed. |
| “The initial call was shots fired,” Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge parish, told NBC. “Whenever an officer hears those words, those two words, the response is immediate, everybody in that area goes to that scene.” | “The initial call was shots fired,” Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge parish, told NBC. “Whenever an officer hears those words, those two words, the response is immediate, everybody in that area goes to that scene.” |
| He did not immediately return calls from the Guardian. | He did not immediately return calls from the Guardian. |
| “We are advising the public to please take an alternate route and steer clear of the area,” the department said of the large crime scene, where they set up barricades and searched cars. “Those in the area are asked to remain indoors and contact law enforcement immediately if they see anything suspicious.” | “We are advising the public to please take an alternate route and steer clear of the area,” the department said of the large crime scene, where they set up barricades and searched cars. “Those in the area are asked to remain indoors and contact law enforcement immediately if they see anything suspicious.” |
| John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana, called the shooting “an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us”. | John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana, called the shooting “an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us”. |
| Hicks also called the local news station, and said police “believe that the area is contained though it is still active”. | Hicks also called the local news station, and said police “believe that the area is contained though it is still active”. |
| Video taken by bystanders near the gunfight showed police taking cover behind their cruisers near a highway and a car wash, shots audible in the background. | |
| A recording of police radio was posted online on Sunday afternoon, revealing the confusion of the moments when gunfire erupted. | |
| “Supposedly a lady came up and said there’s a subject walking with a coat and an assault rifle behind the store,” one officer tells another on the recording, just before a second shouts on the line: “Shots fired, officer down! Shots fired, officer down!” | |
| A chorus of voices on the line continue: “He is not in sight. Possible sniper.” Someone requests an armored car. Before long, an officer reports: “I’m hit. I’m right in front of it. By the car wash.” | |
| Police did not immediately give details about where shots were fired, nor whether there was a sniper. | |
| Baton Rouge has been wracked by tense protests in recent weeks following the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling and then the killings of five police officers in Dallas a few days later. Last weekend thousands protested in the streets of the Louisiana city to condemn Sterling’s death, and police arrested about 200 people over three days. | Baton Rouge has been wracked by tense protests in recent weeks following the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling and then the killings of five police officers in Dallas a few days later. Last weekend thousands protested in the streets of the Louisiana city to condemn Sterling’s death, and police arrested about 200 people over three days. |
| Holden said he was not sure whether the shooting was related to the protests. “Common sense needs to prevail, we need to be the great city that this is,” he said. | Holden said he was not sure whether the shooting was related to the protests. “Common sense needs to prevail, we need to be the great city that this is,” he said. |
| “Rest assured, every resource available to the state of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice,” the governor added in his statement. “For now, I’m asking all Louisianans to join Donna and me in praying for the officers who were involved and their families as the details continue to unfold.” | “Rest assured, every resource available to the state of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice,” the governor added in his statement. “For now, I’m asking all Louisianans to join Donna and me in praying for the officers who were involved and their families as the details continue to unfold.” |