3 Baton Rouge Officers Dead in Ambush

Police Officers Intentionally Targeted in Baton Rouge Ambush

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Jul 19, 2016

[Updated July 18, 2016 3:30 PM]

Officials from Louisiana State Police believe the suspect in the Baton Rouge shooting that left three officers dead and three others injured was "without a doubt intentionally targeting and assassinating officers" at 8:40 a.m. on July 17.

Authorities believe that 29-year-old shooter, Gavin Long, traveled from Kansas City, Missouri with the intent of killing police officers. They said Long was in Baton Rouge a few days before the shooting, scouting out locations for the ambush.

In a timeline given by the Louisiana State Police, Long can be seen via surveillance video moving from place to place in a "tactical-like strategy." He parked his car at a nearby fitness center on Airline Highway before walking to a convenience store where officers were known to convene.

It was at this convenience store that it was reported to police that there was a "suspicious dude with a gun." The first two officers to respond were met by the suspect and were shot. The first officer killed, the second wounded.

It was around 8:40 a.m. that the report of gunfire was reported to the police. From there deputies swarmed the area. The second officer to be killed was responding to the wounded officer, who had crawled from the view of the shooter. The suspect then killed the officer and the injured officer.

When the suspect returned to his car he was met with another officer who had returned to his cruiser, checking the plates on the suspect's vehicle. The officer was shot and injured, and is still currently fighting for his life in the hospital.

The Baton Rouge SWAT Team arrived on the scene and were able to kill the suspect in the parking lot where his car was located by a shot over 100 yards away, "through a structure."

Police found the suspect had on him three firearms at the time of the ambush: an IWI Tavor SAR, 5.56 caliber rifle, a Springfield XD 9, 9mm caliber pistol and a Stag Arms M$ Variant, 5.56 caliber rifle was staged at the vehicle. The guns are being analyzed both through forensics and determining ownership history.

Original Story posted below.

Just 10 days after the deadly shooting in Dallas, Texas that took the lives of five officers, a shooting in Baton Rouge resulted in three more officers down.

On Sunday, July 17, a man identified later as Gavin Long on Kansas City, Missouri, went on a shooting rampage that left two police officers and one sheriff’s deputy dead, Baton Rouge Police said.

The police officers were responding to a call of a suspicious man carrying a gun when the long began shooting and killing officers. Police responded to the shots and engaged Long in a gunbattle that ultimately killed him. The murder weapon was an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, law enforcement said.

The identities of the deceased have been identified as Montrell Jackson, Brad Garafola and Matthew Gerald.

The shooting is salt in the very open wound that is Baton Rouge following the protests for Alton Sterling, a man who died as the result of officer gunfire that was caught on video.

This is a developing story. More information as it is received.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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