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Three police officers are feared dead after a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to a CNN report, at least seven officers were shot in the shooting that took place in the vicinity of the Hammond Aire Plaza on Airline Highway, near the Baton Rouge Police Department’s headquarters.
The shooter is believed to be down as well, according to Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish.
“There is still an active scene,” Holden said. “They are investigating. Right now we are trying to get our arms around everything. It’s just been one thing after another.”
Police received around 9 a.m. a call about a “suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle,” CNN reports, citing an unnamed source. The attack took place shortly after.
“I heard probably 10 to 12 gunshots go off,” Mark Clements, who lives near the shopping center, told The New York Times. “We heard a bunch of sirens and choppers and everything since then.”
The highway has since been closed in both directions while police investigate.
Baton Rouge was the location of the July 5th shooting by two police officers that killed African-American man Alton Sterling. That shooting, which was caught on video and went viral on the internet, evoked a public outcry. Since Sterling’s death, protests have been held along Airline Highway.
This shooting also follows the July 7-8 Dallas shooting, when a sniper killed five police officers.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
