Police say more than 1 officer shot in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge police have been under scrutiny after officers fatally shot Alton Sterling, 37, while he was pinned to the ground. One of those shooters, an individual they did not identify, was dead and two others were being sought. Authorities initially believed that two other assailants might be at large, but hours later said that no other active shooters were in the city.

Col. Mike Edmonson told media, “We believe that the person who shot and killed our officers that he was the person that was shot and killed at the scene”.

Government officials, law enforcement agencies, businesses, and private citizens seemed shellshocked at the news, as the death toll rose to three officers with six shot overall.

He is reported to have been a Dean’s List student at the University of Alabama in 2012. “We hurt for our brothers and sisters at the Baton Rouge Police Department”, the Facebook post read, next to a photo of a Baton Rouge patch and a lit candle.

Three other police officers were shot and injured – one, aged 41, is in a critical condition and two others, 51 and 49, suffered life-threatening wounds but are described as being in a stable condition. Regardless of motive, the death of these three fearless officers underscores the danger that police across the country confront every single day.

“I can’t explain what brought us here”, she said.

The city is on high alert after three officers were shot and killed Sunday morning.

The shooting took place near the Hammond Aire Plaza shopping centre, and about 1.5km from the city’s police headquarters, shortly before 9.30am local time (2.30am Monday NZ Time).

Police asked residents to be vigilant and to report anything suspicious.

Gov. John Bel Edwards rushed to the hospital where the shot officers were taken.

He added: “We have to do better. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas – they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country, with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now – all of us – to be at our best”.

His shooting, along with the death of a man, Philandro Castrile, after being pulled over by police in Minnesota, sparking heated protests that prompted a heavy law enforcement response that some in the region have questioned. Sterling’s funeral was Friday.

On July 7, an Army veteran opened fire on law enforcement in Dallas, killing five and wounding seven other officers.

Michelle Rogers, 56, said the pastor at her church had led prayers Sunday for Sterling’s family and police officers, asking members of the congregation to stand up if they knew an officer. The third officer killed today, an East Baton Rouge Parish deputy, was 45 years old. How many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country? We need what we saw in Dallas this week, as a community came together to restore order and deepen unity and understanding.

“For the second time in two weeks, multiple law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty”.