“They were ambushed, the way they were shot and killed”, Louisiana State Police Col. Mike Edmonson said. “These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilised society, and they have to stop”, Obama said in a statement.
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“We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence on law enforcement”, Obama said in televised remarks.
Long’s attack came on his 29th birthday, and followed a week of anonymous threats received by Baton Rouge law enforcement, according to Louisiana State Police.
Mayor of Baton Rouge Kip Holden described the shooting as “a nightmare” all over again in the city as two police officers shot and killed a 37-year-old black man, triggering a wave of protests across the nation.
Two law enforcement sources tell CNN that Long rented a vehicle in Kansas City after the Dallas shootings and drove it to Baton Rouge.
Of the two officers who survived the shooting, one was hospitalized in critical condition, and the other was in fair condition.
Lynch said agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping investigate the Baton Rouge killings.
Police originally responded to reports of a man with a weapon and were immediately met by gunfire when they arrived on the scene.
Brad Garafola joined the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office 24 years ago.
A gunman who murdered three Louisiana police officers in an ambush “was seeking out police”, investigators have confirmed.
The attack began at a gas station on Airline Highway.
Montrell Jackson, one of the police oficers shot dead in Sunday’s attack, posted a Facebook message about police work just days before he was shot dead.
Long attended the University of Alabama for one semester in spring 2012 and made the Dean’s List, according to university spokesman Monica Watts.
In her own words, she added: “And yet even still, he urged all Americans – of every background and circumstance, every color and creed – ‘Please don’t let hate infect your heart'”.
“It motivated him to go out and change people’s lives”.
Detectives are retracing his footsteps, including his social media postings, where he admits to being in Dallas during the previous mass shooting that left five officers dead.
Jackson also wrestled with the duality of being an African-American police officer in the Black Lives Matter era: When he wore the uniform, he’d get “nasty looks” from the community, and when he was off duty, people would “consider me a threat” because he was black.
Thousands of people have protested Sterling’s death, and Baton Rouge police arrested more than 200 demonstrators.
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.
Five officers were rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Ashley Mendoza said.
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The attorney general says Agents from the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are on the scene, and Justice Department will make available victim services and federal funding support, and provide investigative assistance to the fullest extent possible.
