Three police officers are dead and three more were injured after gunfire broke out in in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s office has confirmed.
One suspect is also dead, bringing the total fatalities to four. The shooter was later identified as 29-year-old Gavin Long, according to law enforcement sources who spoke with CNN. Long is believed to have died in a shootout with police.
It was Long’s birthday, CNN reported. He was born on July, 17, 1987.
Earlier in the day, police believed two other suspects were at large. But now they are saying the attack was likely the result of a single gunman.
The incident occurred before 9 a.m. local time after police answered a call about a “suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle,” a source close to the investigation told CNN. Shots rang out when officers arrived.
President Barack Obama called on the nation Sunday to condemn violence against law enforcement.”We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement,” said the President from the White House press briefing room. “Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible.”
Tensions in the community have been high ever since Alton Sterling, a black man, was killed last week outside a convenience store by police who responded to a call about a man with a gun.
The killing has sparked nationwide protests against police using excessive force against minorities after graphic video of Sterling’s death hit the internet.