AP news guide: 3 Officers killed in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. – State police say the fatal shooting of three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge was an ambush by a former Marine who “certainly was seeking out police.” Here’s what we know about the attack Sunday, which also left three other officers wounded before the attacker was killed:

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HOW DID IT START?

At 8:40 a.m. Sunday, police officers at a convenience store saw the shooter. He was wearing all black and standing behind a beauty supply store holding a rifle. Within two minutes there were reports of shots fired. Two minutes after that, there were reports of officers down. State police say the gunman ambushed the law enforcement officers and “certainly was seeking out police.”

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WHO IS THE SHOOTER?

Authorities identified the shooter as Gavin Long, a 29-year-old black man from Kansas City, Missouri, who served in the U.S. Marines, including a six-month tour of duty in Iraq. Records show he was divorced in 2011. University of Alabama officials said he attended school there for one semester in 2012. Police raided a house associated with him in Kansas City hours after the shootings. Sunday was his birthday.

Documents show Long sought to change his name last year to Cosmo Setepenra. A website using that name links to online books about nutrition, self-awareness and empowerment. The man describes himself as a “Freedom Strategist, Mental Game Coach, Nutritionist, Author and Spiritual Advisor.” In online posts, Setepenra says protests alone don’t work, and people must fight back after the deaths of black men at the hands of police. In at least one video post, dated July 10, the man says he’s speaking from Dallas after the fatal attack on police officers there. The man also discusses the protests in Baton Rouge and what he perceived as oppression.

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IS THERE STILL DANGER?

Police say Long was the only shooter and that he was killed by officers at the scene. They said, however, that they were investigating if there was anyone else who helped him carry out the attack. Businesses near where the shooting took place reopened Monday morning as police continued investigating.

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IS IT RELATED TO THE RECENT ATTACK IN DALLAS?

It’s unclear whether there is any connection between Sunday’s ambush in Baton Rouge and the recent fatal shooting of five officers in Dallas. But the two shocking attacks are part of a recent wave of violent incidents that have escalated already tense relations between police and the black community.

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THE VICTIMS

Authorities identified two of the victims as police officers and one as a sheriff’s deputy. One of those killed was Montrell Jackson, who had posted a moving statement to Facebook recently about the difficulty of being a black man who is also a police officer amid the recent turmoil. “I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me,” he wrote. He said while in uniform he gets nasty looks and out of uniform some consider him a threat.

The other officer was identified as Matthew Gerald, 41, who had been with the Baton Rouge Police Department for less than a year. A neighbour, Ashley Poe, said Gerald was “so tickled” when he was assigned his take-home police car: “He was playing with the lights in it, turning them on and off. Being excited. You know how a kid is?” She said Gerald was married and had a daughter, approximately age 3. She believes his wife also had a daughter from a previous marriage.

The third fatality was Brad Garafola, 45, and a 24-year veteran of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Three officers were wounded. One was hospitalized in critical condition.