The gun violence continues in America. Three police officers have been killed and another three injured in a shooting in Louisiana’s capital city, Baton Rouge. One suspect is dead but two others are suspected to still be at large.
One of the injured officers is described as critical condition in hospital, while another is said to be in a “fair” condition.
Police in the city have warned residents to stay away from the scene of the shooting, which happened near the police headquarters.
The shooting comes after the killing of Alton Sterling by police in Baton Rouge earlier this month. That, and the killing of Philandro Castile in Minnesota the day after, sparked a revenge attack by a black army veteran who shot dead five police in Dallas, Texas.
Obama released a statement about today’s events in Baton Rouge saying, “I condemn, in the strongest sense of the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge.”
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He continued to say that there was no justification for violence against law enforcement, and that attacks like this “are the work of cowards who speak for no-one.”
Phone footage from the scene in Baton Rouge showed police cars arriving at a road intersection, before several shots were heard. Police are reportedly using a robot to check for explosives at the scene.
A witness said she saw a gunman in a black mask and military style-clothing.
Baton Rouge mayor Kip Holden said he had spoken to White House officials who had offered assistance, adding it was a “defining moment” for community relations. He also told local media that the “rhetoric from some people” after the killing of Alton Sterling may be connected to the shootings; “everything’s been anti-police.”
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards tweeted that today’s shooting is an “unspeakable and unjustifiable attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing.”
#lagov on the shooting of law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge today: pic.twitter.com/BU3B4Iznbe
— Gov John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) July 17, 2016