A lone gunman wearing all black and toting a rifle shot and killed three cops in Baton Rouge and wounded three more Sunday, authorities said.
Cops killed the shooter in a wild shootout around 8:40 a.m. local time on a main thoroughfare in the Louisiana capitol.
The gunman was identified by CBS as Gavin Eugene Long. Multiple reports linked Long to homegrown hate groups. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, said he belonged to an antigovernment group called the New Freedom Group. MSNBC reported he belonged to a different group, called the Sovereign Citizens.
Authorities were investigating whether the shootout was an ambush carried out by Long, of Missourri, with the help of others, MSNBC said.
Authorities said there was not an “active shooter situation” in the city, indicating there were not two other suspects in the attack, as they’d said earlier.
However, police had detained two “persons of interest” in the killing, Baton Rouge cops said.
Police used a robot to check the body of the dead suspect for explosives.
Dispatch audio obtained by The Advocate revealed that cops responded to a call before 9 a.m. local time about a man armed with an assault rifle near a B-Quik convenience store on Airline Highway. The store is across from a shopping center, Hammond Aire Plaza.
Then all hell broke loose.
“Shots fired, officer down!” a cop shouts.
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