Final goodbyes set for slain Baton Rouge officers

Gerald and two other officers died Sunday morning in the shooting, which was a “targeted” attack against cops, said Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson.

“We send those officers not only for the department to represent and show their department that we support them”, said Lafayette Police Department’s Public Information Officer Paul Mouton, “But to show the family and the children of those fallen officers that hey you have family across the nation and we’re here to support you”.

The funeral’s speakers included Gerald’s childhood friend Dave Mulkey, who described sending him a text message during the protests over Sterling’s death. Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden spoke and said it’s time for the community to come together.

He said that officers “are here for all of us”. “The men and women who put on those uniforms respect you, respect them”.

Brad Garafola’s funeral will be held Saturday at 2 p.m.at Istrouma Baptist Church and Montrell Jackson’s funeral will be held Monday at 11 a.m.at the Living Faith Christian Center.

Funeral services for police officer Matthew Gerald, at Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 22, 2016. Lester Mitchell, an 11-year police veteran.

Neither Mitchell nor Gerald was involved in the shooting, but they talked about what a strain the incident had put on the community and its relations with police.

Cpl. Mitchell stated that they had started writing reports at the police headquarters Sunday when Gerald went to the B-Quick store that is near the station to get an energy drink.

The CBS News says that Mitchell told that at the store someone told Gerald that an armed man was walking through the area, and Mitchell says his partner radioed for help. They heard gunfire as they arrived on the scene. One wounded sheriff’s deputy remains in critical condition, while another left a Baton Rouge hospital on Thursday after surgeries to fix serious arm injuries.

Matthew Gerald, one of the law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday, was mourned today at his funeral by family, friends and colleagues. They were shot in an ambush by a lone gunman who was later killed.

Dozens of American flags were planted in the grass outside the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge.

Capt. Tom Cox of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee was among those in attendance.

But Gerald “was a protector”, he said.

Cox also recently attended the funerals of police officers slain in Dallas and NY.

“It’s numbing, with this many in such a short period of time” Cox said.

The final goodbyes are set for three slain police officers in Baton Rouge.

Gerald’s funeral follows a Thursday evening visitation.