UPDATES THROUGHOUT
NEW YORK (AA) – Three U.S. law enforcement officers on Sunday were shot dead in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to officials.
The Sheriff’s Office said three other officers were injured and one suspect was dead, with two others believed to be at large. Authorities are reportedly in an armed standoff with one of the suspects who is barricaded in a building at an undisclosed location.
“This is absolutely the worst case scenario,” Denise Marcelle, congresswoman responsible for the city, told the local WAFB television station.
The shooting took place at around 9 a.m. just as many residents were headed to church for Sunday service. “I was praying a prayer of peace this morning when this happened,” Marcelle said.
The crime scene on Airline Highway, about 3 miles from the Baton Rouge Police Department, is under lockdown.
At least two of the injured officers, with one reported to be in critical condition, are being treated at a local hospital whose vicinity is blocked, according to reports.
The shootings come less than two weeks after the controversial shooting on July 5 of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, by two white police officers in Baton Rouge that helped sparked nationwide protests.
Marcelle urged residents to suspend daily protest Sunday that followed Sterling’s killing.
Five police officers in Dallas, Texas, were shot dead July 7, following a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration.
Last Tuesday, Baton Rouge police arrested three people on charges of stealing handguns with the aim of attacking police officers. Authorities at the time described the incident as a “substantial, credible threat” against law enforcement officials.
