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AT LEAST SIX police officers have been shot in the US state of Louisiana with three now confirmed dead. One suspect has also been shot dead.
The shootings happened at about 9am in Baton Rouge with streets closed and police maintaining a cordon around the scene.
WBRZ News reports that a man dressed in black with his face covered began shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash.
A police spokesperson has confirmed that three officers have died from their injuries with three others others also rushed to hospital.
Police have also said that one suspect is dead but that they believe there was more than one suspect involved in the shooting.
Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Don Coppola did not know the extent of the injuries of the police officers who were rushed to hospital.
The scene is being swept in case there is explosives in the area. Police are also asking the public to report anything suspicious as officers search for a second suspect.
President Barack Obama has condemned today’s shootings as “cowardly”.
“For the second time in two weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault,” Obama said in a statement.
These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law and on civilised society, and they have to stop.
The shootings follow the shooting dead of five police office in Dallas which themselves followed the fatal police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Sterling’s killing also took place in Louisiana with his funeral held on Friday.
Asked about the potential motive for today’s shooting, police were unwilling to speculate.
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- With reporting from Associated Press and AFP.
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