“Use of force is rare and deadly use of force is even more rare”, said LaGrange Public Safety Chief Lou Dekmar.
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Outside the San Jose Police Department on Monday, officers were greeted with dozens of blue ribbons in an anonymous gesture of goodwill.
A fourth officer, a deputy sheriff, remains in critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery. Two other officers were injured.
He says what happened in Baton Rouge is a reminder of the extraordinary risks and dangers that law enforcement officers take every day “to protect us and our way of life”.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said Deputy Brad Garafola, 45, died after leaving his cover during the attack to give a wounded police officer aid.
Garafola and Gerald were white. In his post, Jackson talks about the difficulty of being both a black man and a police officer in the city of Baton Rouge. This was 10 days after a sniper killed five police officers in Dallas, and 12 days after police in Baton Rouge fatally shot 37-year-old Alton Sterling. Videos of the incident that surfaced online have raised questions as to whether the shooting was justified. Spokesman Josh Earnest has said such a step was unlikely while noting the presidents steady outreach to and support for police and other law enforcement over the past couple of weeks.
They said officers were “intentionally targeted and assassinated” by Long, who displayed a high degree of tactical skill during the attack – skills likely gained through military training during his five years in the Marines. “As a society, we must come together to address the lingering evil of racism, the need to safeguard our citizens from the present danger of extremism and the overall breakdown of civility”. “Our ‘militarized tactics, ‘ as they’re being called, saved lives here”. He would not elaborate but said the gunman “certainly was seeking out police officers”, and he used the word “ambush” to describe the attack.
Investigators are also still working to trace the guns Long had with him. Officials identified the shooter as an African-American Iraq war veteran from Kansas City, Mo.
Court documents in Kansas City obtained by The Kansas City Star reveal that in May 2015, Long requested a legal name change to Cosmo Setepenra and claimed his nationality as United Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah Mu’ur, a separatist movement whose members believe their ancestors were the original inhabitants of the New World. For several long minutes, they did not know where it was coming from. Washitaw is a black nationalist movement that was once targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A research report on the department’s website says that “although PTSD is associated with a risk of violence, most people with PTSD have never engaged in violence”.
Other details about the gunman were revealed Monday.
Long received a degree from a community college, Central Texas College.
CNN has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the military to obtain records about Long’s service.
A website, social media accounts and YouTube videos that appeared tied to Long include complaints about police treatment of black people and praise for killings of the Dallas policemen.
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Hundreds attended a rally Tuesday night supporting law-enforcement officers at police headquarters, about a mile from where the officers were shot to death Sunday morning.
