Two police officers shot in Baton Rouge, LA
Two police officers shot this afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Arthel Neville reports.
One police officer was shot to death Sunday in North Baton Rouge, Lousiana, and another was wounded, officials said, adding that the suspect was taken into custody after an hourslong standoff.
Don Coppola, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department, said the officers involved were members of his department.
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul later told The Advocate that the suspect, Ronnie Kato, 36, engaged in a four-hour standoff with officers and SWAT team members while he was barricaded in a house. Shots were fired between both law enforcement and Kato before he was finally taken into custody.
Baton Rouge Police officers at the site of the shooting Sunday. (Travis Spradling/The Advocate via AP)
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Police did not immediately identify the two officers involved in the shooting, but said the officer who died was a 21-year veteran of the police force.
“Our officers — talk about being public servants and the responsibility that comes along with being a law-enforcement officer,” Paul said. “This is a call no chief wants to get.”
The wounded officer, who was “fighting for his life" at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, had seven years of police experience, Paul added.
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Two ambulances escorted by multiple police units were seen leaving the area and headed toward the hospital following the shooting.
Dozens of law enforcement officers held an impromptu vigil at the hospital, awaiting updates on the wounded officer's condition.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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