BATON ROUGE, La. — Across this city, shocked residents gathered Tuesday in churches and at community vigils to offer support for the law enforcement community and the three officers who were slain in an ambush by a gunman.
Families with children, drivers passing through and law enforcement officers from outside the area have been laying flowers and balloons or hanging crosses at a makeshift memorial in front of the B-Quick convenience store near where the officers were killed Sunday.
Tuesday evening a procession of a few hundred motorcyclists roared down Airline Highway and gathered at police headquarters to show their respects.
Funeral arrangements for two of the officers have been made public: Montrell Jackson, a 10-year police force veteran with a newborn at home, will be laid to rest Monday. Visitation for Matthew Gerald, an Iraq war veteran who became a police officer less than a year ago, will be held Thursday and Friday. Funeral services will be held Friday.
Arrangements for 45-year-old Brad Garafola, an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy and a father of four, have not been made public.
The three are among 10 law enforcement officers killed over a span of 10 turbulent days around the country by attackers — at a protest march in Dallas, a courthouse in Michigan and now a convenience store in Baton Rouge.
In Sunday’s Baton Rouge shooting, Gavin Long, a former Marine from Missouri dressed in black and carrying extra ammunition, opened fire on officers about 8:45 a.m., police said.
The officers lived in the area of Denham Springs, a quiet bedroom community across the Amite River from Baton Rouge, which has been in turmoil for two weeks. Tensions rose sharply after the death of Alton Sterling, 37, a black man killed by white Baton Rouge officers after a scuffle at a convenience store. The killing was captured on cellphone video, sparking widespread protests against police treatment of the African-American community.
Faith and community leaders, black and white, gathered at a Baton Rouge church Tuesday to discuss ways to improve police relations with black residents.
More than 100 people with Together Baton Rouge held signs bearing the words “We refuse to be divided.”
The group condemned recent violence but also called for more community policing tactics.
“Unless relationships are established, there will be no changes. Police officers need to get out of their cars and have one-on-one conversations with people in their community,” said the Rev. Lee Wesley, who is black.
Wesley said the city needs to look at how potential law officers are vetted. People need to show more respect for police officers, but officers need to show more respect for residents, he said.
