The man who killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday was a former Marine who served in Iraq. Gavin Eugene Long, who is black, carried out the attack on his 29th birthday. Officials say he had no known ties to radical groups and may have acted alone.
In addition to the dead, three other officers were wounded in the shooting, less than a mile from police headquarters. This latest incident comes after a week of violence and racial tension that included the shootings of two black men by white police officers in Baton Rouge and St. Paul, Minnesota, and the killings of five police officers in Dallas.
Jesse Hardman of WWNO in New Orleans joins us with the latest on the investigation into the shootings.
Read Hardman’s recent article in The Guardian, ‘On this side of town they harass you’: the Baton Rouge where Alton Sterling died.
Guest
Jesse Hardman, coastal reporter for WWNO in New Orleans. He tweets @JesseAHardman.
Editor’s Note: On Monday, Here & Now referred to Gavin Eugene Long, the man who killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as an “ex-Marine.” We’ve since learned that is a derogatory term to some service members, and that the more accurate phrase is “former Marine.” We’ve corrected our headline and text accordingly. We regret the error.
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