(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP).
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At a press conference Tuesday, standing with a mix of black and white community members, Together Baton Rouge leaders said the recent shootings of police officers indicates why more dialogue about policing is needed. In a city already tense after the high-prof.
Sadly, shootings and tragic deaths have made up numerous national news stories in the last couple of months, with the latest tragedy involving three officers from Baton Rouge, La. who were killed this past weekend.
Authorities identified the Baton Rouge gunman as former Sergeant Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri, an Iraq war veteran, and said he seemed determined to slay as many police officers as possible before a SWAT team marksman cut short his attack.
And they say he shot to kill. “Police officers need to get out of their cars and have one-on-one conversations with people in their community”, said the Rev. “It was a calculated act”.
The other two officers who were killed have been identified by the USA media as Matthew Gerald (41) and Brad Garafola (24). Edwards described the shooting as an “absolutely unspeakable heinous attack”.
Hosea Jackson lost his son, Baton Rouge Police Officer Montrell Jackson, in a shooting on Sunday that left two other city police officers dead and three other officers injured.
Using overhead maps of the shooting scene, Edmonson laid out step-by-step how Long, who was armed with two rifles and a 9mm handgun, hid behind a warehouse and in his vehicle at various times before striking cops. Sterling was outside a store when police received reports he had a gun and had threatened someone. Authorities believe the first 911 call came in, reporting a “dude with a rifle”, as he returned to his auto. But again he was thwarted. Edmonson said by the time the former Marine parked his auto, the officer there had driven away.
He wasn’t interested in anyone without a badge, officials said. “They didn’t run, They didn’t go the other direction”.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, in a speech to the NAACP civil rights group in Cincinnati, said she would bring the “full weight of the law to bear” against cop killers but added there is “another hard truth at the heart of this complex matter: Many African-Americans fear the police”.
Long stalked the area, searching, as more 911 calls poured in and officers arrived.
Instead of open-carrying of weapons as allowed in OH and many other states, the nation should have stricter gun control laws and bans on assault-style weapons like those used in the killings of police officers and recurring mass shootings.
Simmons was headed on Monday night for his second surgery since the attack, Gautreaux said.
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Marcelle released her own statement in response, noting that she also has since worn a similar shirt bearing the names of fallen officers Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, also written over the image of blood. He opened fire, killing Deputy Garafola.
