What We Know About the Police Shooting in Baton Rouge
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At least three police officers are dead and several more have been wounded after responding to reports of a shooting in Baton Rouge, La. The attack occurred Sunday morning and comes less than two weeks after the death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black Baton Rouge resident, who was fatally shot by white officers on July 5.
The local Advocate newspaper reported that one suspect is dead, and law enforcement officials believe two others may be at large.
Here's what we know about the shooting so far.
News accounts say at least three officers were wounded.
Law enforcement officers responded to a report of officers shot near the vicinity of a B Quick store on Airline Highway around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, according to CBS News. Initially, police were dispatched to the location because a man was said to be walking near Airline Highway with an assault rifle.
What happened after that is still under investigation, but we do know that shots were fired and there are multiple police casualties. While Sgt. Don Coppola of the Baton Route Police Department initially told media that they did "not have the extent of the injuries" in the situation, authorities have now confirmed that two Baton Rouge police officers were killed in the attack, as well as one East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy. More injured officers have been sent to a local hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center, which is now under lockdown.
A witness to the incident reported hearing shots fired from his backyard, which is near the shopping center where the shooting took place.
"I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off. We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then," Mark Clements said in a phone interview with The New York Times.
Sheriff's office spokesperson Casey Rayborn Hicks said that one shooter is dead and at least another two shooters may still be on the loose. Local authorities have asked anyone who sees anything suspicious to call 911 immediately.