AN ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY!
At least two police officers have been shot dead in Baton Rouge, La., and others may have been wounded, authorities said Sunday.
Two Baton Rouge police officers shot on Sunday morning have died, confirmed William Daniel, the city-parish’s chief administrative officer, according to The Advocate newspaper.
Baton Rouge Police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola confirmed that several officers were shot by gunfire, the paper reported. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies may have also been among those shot, Coppola said.
Kip Holden, mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, told CNN that “three officers are feared dead.”
“They are investigating,” he said. “Right now we are trying to get our arms around everything.”
Both lanes of Airline Highway are shut down from Goodwood Boulevard to Old Hammond Highway and from Old Hammond to Drusilla Drive, according to East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks. The scene is still active, Hicks told The Advocate.
About 20 police officers wearing bulletproof vests are near the scene and a helicopter was flying overhead, the paper reported.
The Baton Rouge mayor’s office urged urges people to stay home, stay off the streets for now in immediate wake of police shooting, according to The Advocate.
Praying for the officers, their families, the entire BRPD, and our city. Please bring these killers to justice.#
ā Rep. Ted James (@EdwardTedJames) July 17, 2016
A witness told WBRZ-TV that a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza. Police closed the streets between the police departmentās headquarters and Interstate 12.
WAFB-TV reported officers were shot along Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway, but didnāt specify the number of police.
Michael Vinsanau of WBRZ tweeted that more than a dozen marked and unmarked police cars have sped to the scene, and that a SWAT team is on location. State police armed with rifles are posted blocks away, Vinsanau tweeted.
Numerous authorities are responding. A large manhunt began immediately, WBRZ reported.
Baton Rouge police have been under scrutiny after officers fatally shot Alton Sterling, 37, while he was pinned to the ground. Sterlingās funeral was Friday. Police have said they thought he was reaching for a gun.
Source: USA Today
