Three police officers were killed and three others were injured on Sunday when a gunman opened fire on them while they were on duty in Baton Rouge.
The shooting comes days after two African-American men were killed—one in Minnesota and one in Baton Rouge—during encounters with police, and then, days later, five police officers were killed in an ambush in Dallas.
Police have confirmed that the Baton Rouge shooter was killed in a shootout with police.
President Obama issued a statement following the deaths of Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola on Sunday, saying (in part),
These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. 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.
Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of the fallen. May God bless them all.
Just days before the shooting, Jackson, a 32-year-old husband and father, wrote on Facebook,
In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat … I’ve experienced so much in my short life and the past 3 days have tested me to the core …. Please don’t let hate infect your heart. This city MUST and WILL get better. I’m working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family, or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer I got you.
