Mayor Sharon Weston Broome has ordered all flags on city-parish grounds to be flown at half-staff today in honor of the six law enforcement officers killed and injured during an ambush shooting outside an Airline Highway gas station and convenience store.
One year ago today, gunman Gavin Long fatally shot Baton Rouge Police Officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brad Garafola. A fourth deputy, Nick Tullier, also was severely wounded and has undergone months of rehabilitation in Houston.
Long had come to Baton Rouge specifically to kill law enforcement officers, District Attorney Hillar Moore said in a recent report detailing the ambush.
Broome, who has found herself at odds with some in the law enforcement community since taking office in January, issued a statement this morning commemorating the officers lost and calling for unity.
“We are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice many of our uniformed officers all too often pay when serving our communities,” her statement says. “I ask that we continue to honor those lives lost serving and protecting us by coming together as a city and moving forward in solidarity. On behalf of the great citizens of Baton Rouge, I thank our men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe.”
The shooting took place on a Sunday morning, shocking the Baton Rouge community. It came less than two weeks after the city was thrust into the national spotlight when 37-year-old Alton Sterling was killed by police officers outside a North Foster Drive convenience store.
