The Latest: Lynch says 'all of us are again heartbroken'

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA — U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says she condemns the attack in Baton Rouge "in the strongest terms possible" and says federal law enforcement agencies are helping on the ground.

Lynch said Monday in Washington that "families are again mourning loved ones robbed from them by senseless violence. ... And all of us are again heartbroken at the news of yet another tragedy."

She invoked a Facebook post by slain officer Montrell Jackson. Days ago, he wrote that he received "nasty, hateful looks" while in uniform but also said, "Please don't let hate infect your heart."

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In the Sunday attack, a former Marine dressed in black and carrying extra ammunition shot and killed three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers, less than two weeks after a black man was fatally shot by police there in a confrontation that sparked nightly protests that reverberated nationwide.

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UPDATE

State police say the gunman in the Baton Rouge shooting ambushed the six law enforcement officers and "certainly was seeking out police."

Col. Mike Edmonson made the comments Monday morning. The shooting on Sunday killed three officers and left three others wounded, one critically. Police say the gunman was a former Marine who was killed at the scene.

Edmonson says: "His movements, his direction, his attention was on police officers."

Edmonson also says investigators have interviewed people who had contact with the gunman in Baton Rouge, but he wouldn't say how many or give other details. He stressed that officials are still asking any others who might have had contact with shooter Gavin Long to come forward.

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The shooting less than a mile from police headquarters added to the tensions across the country between the black community and police.

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UPDATE

Louisiana State Police have positively identified the shooter who killed three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge as Gavin Long.

In a Monday morning Facebook post, Louisiana State Police said they needed to withhold official confirmation of his name until they had positively ID'ed him through fingerprints.

Long, who's from Kansas City, Missouri, turned 29 on Sunday, the same day he opened fire, killing three and wounding three other officers. Police said Long was killed at the scene.

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The shooting less than a mile from police headquarters added to the tensions across the country between the black community and police.

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The shooter who gunned down and killed at least three Baton Rouge police officers is identified as Gavin Long, according to The Associated Press.

The unnamed official familiar with the investigation who identified Long did not have any other details on him.

A spokesman for the Louisiana state police says they believe Long was the only shooter. However, officials are unsure whether he had accomplices.

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"We are not ready to say he acted alone," Major Doug Cain said.

Cain said two other "persons of interest" were being detained in Addis, a town near Baton Rouge.

Update  

A suspect who was involved in a shooting situation that resulted in the deaths of three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers more than likely acted alone, Col. Mike Edmondson, head of the Louisiana State Police, said during a news conference.

Update 

Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge, said a shooting situation between law enforcement officers and an unconfirmed number of suspects began when officers were "ambushed" while responding to reports of a shooting a convenience store.

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Three officers were killed.

Two officers remain at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center; one officer is in critical condition, and the other is in fair condition, the Associated Press reported. A third officer was sent to Baton Rouge General Medical Center and was being treated for "non-life-threatening injuries," said Meghan Parrish, a spokeswoman for the Baton Rouge General.

Update  

A situation involving the death of at least three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers and one suspect is still active.

L’Jean McKneely, a Baton Rouge police spokesman, said police sent a robot inside a B-Quick Convenience Store on Airline Highway near the suspect's body to determine if there are any explosives in the store, The Advocate reported.

It's unclear how the shootout began Sunday morning.

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Details about the suspects are limited, but Baton Rouge police have asked people in the area to call law enforcement if they see anyone wearing all black or all camouflage, The Advocate reported.

“We’re not sure of anything right now,” McKneely said.

Update: 

Three law enforcement officers were confirmed dead Sunday morning, East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said.

Two of the dead are Baton Rouge police officers, and one is an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy, Baton Rouge Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel confirmed.

Three injured law enforcement officers remain at are being treated at local medical centers.

One suspect is dead and law enforcement believes two others may be at large, The Advocate reported.

Original story

Police officers have been shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during an incident that took place Sunday around 9 a.m.

"There is still an active scene. They are investigating," Holden said Sunday morning. "Right now we are trying to get our arms around everything."

It's unclear how many other officers were injured, but Holden said, "The count is three officers dead possibly."

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Officers and deputies from the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office were involved, according to Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

"Officers from both agencies sustained injuries," Hicks said.

Injured personnel were rushed to a local hospital.

William Daniel, the city-parish's chief administrative officer, later confirmed that at least two officers died.

Baton Rouge Police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola confirmed that several officers were shot, and Baton Rouge Police Cpl. L. J. McKneely said that "multiple" officers were down.

The situation occurred less than one mile from police headquarters at a location on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway, WAFB reported. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development reported the highway is closed.

Around 10 a.m., Coppola said the situation was "contained."

Details surrounding the shooting suspects are unclear.

Police-community relations in Baton Rouge have been especially tense since the killing of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man killed by white officers earlier this month after a scuffle at a convenience store.

"It's like a nightmare all over again," Holden said.

Associated Press