Report: "Three feared dead; shooter believed to be down too"
Breaking News:
Update 12:15PM:
From The New York Times and Baton Rouge Advocate
The police were responding Sunday to a shooting in Baton Rouge, La., that left at least three officers seriously wounded, Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, said.
The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that two officers had died, citing William Daniel, the city-parish’s chief administrative officer.
Sgt. Don Coppola, a Baton Rouge police spokesman, said he could not confirm the number of officers who had been shot. He said that the shooting scene had been “contained.”
Mr. Holden said reports of an active shooter in the vicinity of the Hammond Aire Plaza on Airline Highway came in around 9 a.m. Authorities blocked a road after police officers were shot in Baton Rouge on Sunday. CreditJoe Penney/Reuters
“Then people responded like they normally would,” he said. “And when they got there, this person was still firing at officers and unfortunately some have been wounded.”
Mark Clements, who lives near the shopping center, said he was in his backyard when he heard shots ring out.
“I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off,” he said in a telephone interview. “We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then.”
Protests have been held along Airline Highway, which also runs in front of Police Headquarters, since the police shooting of Alton Sterling on July 5. At about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the road was closed in both directions, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported.
Images and video posted to social media showed a large presence of police vehicles along the road.
A local broadcaster, WAFB, broadcast video of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, where wounded officers had been transported, on lockdown. View image on Twitter.
From CNN reports
At least seven officers were injured and at least three of them are feared dead in a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
Police received a call of "suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle," the source said. When police arrived, the man opened fire.
The remaining officers are hospitalized in critical condition, the source said.
Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, said authorities were still trying to get a handle on the situation, but added, "The count is three officers dead possibly."
The victims may include police officers and sheriff's deputies.
"There is still an active scene. They are investigating," he said. "Right now we are trying to get our arms around everything."
The shooter is believed to be down as well, Holden said. "Everything is moving fast and I have not been able to verify everything," he said.
This shooting comes only 12 days after Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge Police officers during an altercation in which police attempted to disarm him. Sterling's funeral was Friday.