AMBUSH UPDATE: 3 BATON ROUGE POLICE OFFICERS DEAD, 3 WOUNDED; LONE SUSPECT KILLED

UPDATE AT 3:20 p.m. CDT: Police at a press conference state that the shooter was killed at the scene. They also said the ‘active shooter situation is over.’

UPDATE AT 12:10 p.m. CDT: Three officers confirmed dead, three wounded according to WAFB-TV.

UPDATE at 11:20 a.m. CDT The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s office told WAFB-TV that three shooters were involved with one shooter killed by police and two still at large. MSNBC reports a Louisiana state representative as saying a fourth officer is dead.

UPDATE 11:50 a.m. CDT: WAFB reporter at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital reported the hospital stated it received five officers and that three of those officers are dead. One officer is in critical condition and another is in fair condition.

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden said on MSNBC at 10:40 a.m. CDT that three officers were killed in an ambush by one or two shooters. He said officers were responding to a report of “shots fired” when they were ambushed.

Holden could not confirm reports there were more officers wounded, saying that he has heard four to seven officers were shot.

VIDEO of gunfire added at end of article.

WBRZ-TV reported:

“Police have closed streets between Baton Rouge Police Headquarters and I-12 where law enforcement officers have been shot.

“A witness told WBRZ News 2, a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza. Shots were fired around 9 a.m. Sunday.”

Baton Rouge Police Shot WAFB Viewer
Photo from near scene of Baton Rouge police shooting, viewer photo via WAFB-TV.

From CNN’s Saaed Ahmed:

“Three Baton Rouge police officers are feared dead after a shooting, officials said. More details coming soon.”

Unconfirmed reports from locals via Twitter state that many more officers were shot.

https://twitter.com/songduck98/status/754688871170838528

“They just shot 7 police in #BatonRouge… Saw a bunch of Sheriff vehicles speeding down the street but didn’t know why. This is a mess 😔”

“A friend in Baton Rouge is saying a shooting is happening now at the Hammond Aire Shopping Center. 8 officers down. 3 critical. Stay away!”

Baton Rouge has been the focus of Black Lives Matter protests and at least one plot to kill police following the July 5th police shooting of career criminal Alton Sterling as he resisted arrest.

Four suspects were arrested this week in a plot to shoot Baton Rouge officers.

Mayor Kip Holden told WAFB that three officers were critically wounded, but would not confirm any police fatalities and did not say whether or not more officers were wounded.

WAFB reported at 10:20 a.m. CDT that two officers are dead.

On scene photos tweeted by The Advocate reporter Charles Lussier.

“Scene at Hammond Aire Shopping Center. Cops galore, helicopter buzzing above.”

“Lots of cops staged in Hammond Aire shopping plaza. Details sketchy.”

Cellphone video broadcast by WAFB and posted to YouTube shows police responding to shooting scene. At least seven gunshots are heard.

UPDATE: An eyewitness interviewed on WAFB at 11:05 a.m. CDT claimed that about two dozen shots were fired in a gun battle between civilians before police arrived and that he saw a wounded civilian on the ground in the shopping center parking lot. The witness claimed he saw a man with a rifle running away.

The witness said he heard thirty to forty more shots fired when police arrived.

UPDATE: 11:15 a.m. CDT: WAFB just aired recorded video from a Facebook live stream by a woman who was at the scene of the shooting. She described a man wearing a “mask” and looking “military” carrying a rifle shooting at police like a “sniper”.

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Kristinn Taylor has contributed to The Gateway Pundit for over ten years. Mr. Taylor previously wrote for Breitbart, worked for Judicial Watch and was co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. He studied journalism in high school, visited the Newseum and once met David Brinkley.

You can email Kristinn Taylor here, and read more of Kristinn Taylor's articles here.

 

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