[ gunfire ] our polo sandoval, you just returned from baton rouge. There have been nights and nights of protest after the policeinvolved shooting and killing of alton sterling. You were there covering that. This also comes after the killing of Philando Castile and after the ambush and attack of 12 Police Officers in dallas. Five were killed, seven injured there. Talk to me about the state of the community in baton rouge right now as this happens. Well, you take all of those incidents and it equals to a very tense community and that is what we saw firsthand as we were there in baton rouge, louisiana. There was a large demonstration that took place where some officers were seriously injured but eventually were able to recover. Yes, there were arrests made and, yes, we saw an increase of Police Presence. Not because of the violence that broke out during the demonstrations but also because there were two threats that investigators were following up on. At the same time, were seeing several members of the Community Come together and stopping by and i asked the officers to be careful, please be extra cautious as they head out because there was a concern that Something Like this could potentially happen. So what we have is this shooting incident that may or may not be tied directly to that growing violence against Law Enforcement but did result in the loss of at least three Police Officers with at least three others wounded and then, of course, the gunman himself was shot and killed during this shooting itself. There are witness reports surfacing that suggest there may have been some other kind of incident but, again, we have to be extremely cautious as we press forward. This investigation is only about four hours old. There are still plenty of questions. What i can tell you is its feared that Law Enforcements officers were being targeted. All right. Polo, stay with us. Thank you. I want to read the statement that we got from the Governor John Bel Edwards. This is an unspeakable attack at a time when we need unity and healing. Rest assured every resource to the state of louisiana will be used to make sure that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice. Please join donna and me in praying for the officers who were involved and their families as these details continue to unfold. Were awaiting a press conference from the governor. That will happen at 4 00 p. M. Right now hes comforting the families of the wounded officers, the families of the three officers that were murdered in all of this and just as were learning now, the white house is also monitoring the situation. They have come out with a statement saying that the president has been briefed and will continue to be briefed throughout the day. This is just in to cnn as well, we just received audio i want to play for you. This is Police Radio Communication happening at the moment that the deadly shooting incident occurred there describing the man that they believe that the shooter and a weapon. Listen. When we pulled up he got the windshield. One subject, all black, carrying an ar. All right. You heard that. It said one subject, all black carrying i believe they said a big arm. Meaning a big firearm wearing all black and a mask. Lets talk about this with our Law Enforcement team, art roderick, Cedric Alexander, tom fuentes. This sounds like a rifle. Tensions are obviously high. They are trying to give other officers more information because now we have what appears to be a fugitive on the run but also in addition they are taking incoming. They are multitaskers. They do many things. They are trying to make sure that radio, central dispatch knows that were going to have a fugitive in a few minutes. Art, you brought up the point that when youre faced with a weapon, described as a large arm we dont know what kind of gun it is what would the officers be protected with as walking into this . A lot of Police Departments now have Assault Rifles in their vehicles but usually what you have is a shotgun in a lot of the cruisers which is not going to do much. If this individual has a long arm or rifle, he can reach out and touch you from a very Long Distance away where that shotgun and handgun are inaccurate and unaffected. So this is a situation that is the worst scenario. Its like bringing a knife to a gunfight. It really isnt going to make that much difference. Tom fuentes, to you, look, its early on here. We are just getting the facts coming in to us. I want to alert our viewers that we are bringing you what we are learning from Law Enforcement. But as is the case in situations like this, sometimes the facts that we hear at the beginning are just initial reports. So tom fuentes, early reports that officers believe that there are potentially two other individuals involved that are on the run, how would they get there . If the shooter is dead, what would lead them to believe that, tom . Well, whatever came up from the officer about taking a bullet through the windshield may have got more information about other individuals or when the other officer arrived, people may be working in those nearby businesses and said we saw two other people similarly dressed running away from the scene. So there could be a number of ways that they get that information to try to put out that broadcast. I think at this point, 4 1 2 hours into this, the main shooter is dead, that unless its wa too gruesome, if they dont have his identity, they should put his photo out to the public, anybody know this person . If they do know his identity, they may be conducting search warrants in the meantime before the media arrives. If they havent identified him yet, they need to get that out there and get public help. Tom, to you, the witness that we heard from moments ago described what he believes was gunfire before Police Showed up. Youre wary of some early witness accounts. Why . Because, as i mentioned, in the last couple of years weve had witnesses that have turned out to be inaccurate. And then, as i mentioned, Michael Brown in ferguson never had his hands up. The fbi and department of justice determined that he never had his hands up and we had an entire movement that started, hands up, dont shoot, based on a lie. Sacedric, talk to me about t mindset as youre driving up to someone with a mask and what is inscribed as a big arm rifle. Were not sure what type of gun it is, in the environment, the context of the tension across this nation right now when it comes to encounters with Police Officers and community members. Your thoughts if you were in this officers shoes. We dont know what the motivation is behind this shooting. Is this something that they were targeting the officers or was is Something Else that was going on that these officers either road up on or were called to. We really dont know. We have one bad guy down. We have three officers down and dead and three or four that are severely injured. And i think its important at this early stage of the investigation to really try to keep this in much perspective as we can for the American People. Because heres the piece. Im not going to compare this shooting to any other shooting and certainly not the Michael Brown shooting. What we have here, we dont know yet. And if you think about the very early is the accounts that you just had there on television, we dont know whether his statements are spot on or not but heres what we do know. Is that those are statements that are being given to us and thats all we have to go on right now. We dont underweigh them or overweigh them. This is an emerging investigation. We dont know whether these officers were targeted or if there was already something going on, which there is some inference to that as clear from your witness statement. I think well be able to determine this shooting which we cannot compare to other shootings other than the fact that we have officers that are dead and that certainly upsets and angers all of us because, regardless of how they end up dying in the line of duty, what is very important here is that they were attacked and an attack upon them, regardless of the circumstances, is not acceptable. Art roderick, thats important, important context. Thank you so much. To reset for our viewers, we know that six officers have been shot, three are dead. They were responding to a man walking down airline highway with a weapon. We just heard the police audio described as a big arm, responding to that, this is what played out. What we dont know is that if these officers were targeted, if this was an ambush, if they were responding to an ongoing situation, that is just unclear at this hour. Much more of our breaking news from baton rouge, louisiana, straight ahead. More places. Covers your busn so you can take your business just about anywhere. Plus, our extended range lte reaches twice as far and its 4x better in buldings. Get more done in more places. Switch your business to tmobile work today. The sunll come out for people with Heart Failure, tomorrow is not a given. But entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. Tomorrow, tomorrow. I love ya, tomorrow in the largest Heart Failure study ever. Entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading Heart Failure medicine. Women who are pregnant must not take entresto. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. 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We are continuing to follow the breaking news out of baton rouge, louisiana, at this hour, where three officers have been shot and killed. Three more officers wounded. This all took place this morning right around 9 00 a. M. Police say that the gunman one gunman is dead. Two other suspects at least are believed to be on the run at this hour. We just have new video in. I want to show it to you. This is video from a witness near the scene of how this all unfolded. [ gunfire ] my colleague, pamela brown, is with me, our justice correspondent. Pamela, before i get to the reporting, the Baton Rouge Police department has just said that they do not believe that this is racerelated. The Baton Rouge Police Department Says this does not appear to be policerelated. Following the shooting of those officers in dallas, the person who was targeting white Police Officers. The baton rouge Police Officers do not believe this is racerelated. As you sit here in cleveland, in the context of the major security concerns around the Republican National convention. Ive spoken to Law Enforcement officials in louisiana and across washington and elsewhere, there are certainly a lot of concerns as to what is happening in baton rouge, on the heels of what we saw in dallas. As one official said it, its a powder keg specifically in louisiana. What we are trying to figure out is whether this was an ambush or they were and we heard one witness say they believe there was gunfire before the Police Arrived. But as tom fuentes pointed out, there are many different accounts and were just bringing you what we are hearing. What im told is that a call was made alerting Law Enforcement that a person was in a mask and Police Responded and there was a long fire fight that ensued and video captured that fire fight posted to social media that has since been taken down but Law Enforcement has been looking at that trying to figure out what unfolded, if theres more than one suspect and we were initially told that there could be two in addition to the one that is dead. Preliminary information can sometimes be wrong. They have been analyzing this video. Im told that this area where this happened, as one official put it, is not the best area in town but theres a coffee shop there where police frequent. They are trying to figure out the context surrounding the shooting right now. Did your sources tell you what was said on that call or was it simply a call from a bystander to say, hey, theres a man all dressed in black with a mask and a gun, you should come. Did they say anything else . That was the sense that i was given, that someone said, hey, a person is Walking Around with a long rifle. Whats unclear is, did this person open fire before Police Arrived . And so were hearing different accounts in that regard. And that, of course, could change the perspective in terms of whether or not there is a police ambush. You mentioned video posted on social media taken down . Thats right. Who was the video from and why was it taken down . Apparently it was from a witness in the area that took video of the shooting, the fire fight, and posted it on facebook. Do with you know why it was taken down . I wasnt told why. I imagine this witness is someone that police are in the process of trying to track down or find as we speak. Law enforcement across the country are paying close attention because you have a situation here where theres going to be inevitable protests and its impossible to weed out people coming to protests who may have nefarious purposes and then a lot of Law Enforcement around and so you have a situation that could end up being a tinderbox. Given what happened in dallas and now baton rouge, they are still trying to figure out that shooting. Lets talk about cleveland and in terms of gun laws. In louisiana, its an open carry state. Meaning, if youre licensed to have a gun, you can openly carry it in public without a special license to do that. That is the same law that applies here in cleveland. People who are protesting this week will be able to open carry their licensed weapons. That makes this situation, pamela, for Law Enforcement more complex, doesnt it . It certainly does. As you point out, the police union is calling for a temporary restriction as we go through the convention and as large crowds gather, the concern, as we saw in dallas, if many people can bring guns, if theres a shooting, its tough to figure out who the suspect is. Again, thats the law here. People are allowed to carry their licensed weapon and that will be the case, as far as we know, unless governor kasich steps in and puts a restriction on it. I can tell you from a Law Enforcement perspective that only heightens the concern in the wake of the shootings. Someone from Law Enforcement that i spoke to said were kind of freaked out right now. We feel as though we have targets on our back and you see what is happening in baton rouge and in dallas. Baton rouge, they are still trying to figure that out. Theres a heightened concern but security is very tight. There are a lot of Law Enforcement officials and they are trying to do everything that they can to prevent something from happening. Pamela brown, thank you so much. Shell keep us posted. Again, to reset for you, we have three officers killed, three more wounded in baton rouge, louisiana, this morning. One suspected shooter is dead but police are saying they believe two others are still on the run. Much more of our breaking news straight ahead. Tokyostyle ramen noodles. When you cook with incredible ingredients. You make incredible meals. Fresh ingredients, stepbystep recipies, delivered to your door for less than nine dollars a meal. Get your first two meals free at blueapron. Com cook. Some neighbors are Energy Saving superstars. How do you become a superstar . With pg es free Online Home Energy checkup. In just under 5 minutes you can see how you use energy and get quick and easy tips on how to keep your monthly bill down and your Energy Savings up. Dont let your neighbor enjoy all the savings. Take the Free Home Energy checkup. Honey, we need a new refrigerator. Visit pge. Com checkup and get started today. [ gunfire ] im poppy harlow. Were continuing to follow the breaking news at this hour out of baton rouge, louisiana, where three officers have been shot and killed. Three more are wounded. Police are confirming to us that one shooter is dead. Two more people, though, are believed to be on the run. Weve also just gotten a statement from the department of Homeland Security that jey johnson, the head of dhs, has been briefed on the situation of this shooting of the Police Officers in baton rouge. He will continue to receive regular updates. The white house also issuing a statement that the president has been briefed on this and will continue to be monitoring it. The governor of louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards, expected to hold a News Conference later this afternoon. He did note that this is an attack on all of us and that the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice, indicating more than one person potentially involved. Lets bring in cnn anchor don lemon. Hes been talking to his sources. Don, early this morning you received a call. What do you know . Ive been talking to the very same source who says that the press conference was supposed to be held at 3 00. They are meeting with members of the Police Department, they are meeting with the families, sadly, of the officers killed in this horrific event. Right now the concern is for the fourth hospital in the hospital in very Critical Condition, im told, and so they are hoping that they dont have to add one more officers life to the list of three officers. Lets hope that they dont. The mayor now is considering a curfew. Theres no curfew at this point but hes going to ask people if they dont have to be out, not to be out and may have to put a curfew in place. And again, youre right, its one gunman that they have and they are looking for possibly two others. There is also some information that this is a very heavily trafficked drug area. Its where police go to get coffee in this area. It had been our reports out there that this may have been a drug deal going bad but my sources are telling me that they dont want to go that far if that is indeed the case and it still could have been a targeted attack and they are looking at information in that direction. But they are still investigating. Still an active investigation going on, of course. Don, its important that you bring it up that way because we just dont know, this is all unfolding moment by moment. The context that this comes in over the last two weeks, with all that weve seen play out across this country and the heightened tension with the police and the communities that they do Police Obviously has everyone on high alert. We dont know why this happened. We dont know, as don said, whether this was a crime scene or a drug deal gone bad or whether this was a police ambush. Don, the Sergeant Sergeant john coppola of the Baton Rouge Police department did say, when asked just moments ago, whether or not the officers race was an issue in this shooting, he said that the shooting did not appear to be racerelated. Again, he said at this early stage he does not believe that this shooting was racerelated. And he went on to say that there may still be possibly one or two atlarge gunmen but they are still trying to confirm that. Don, what do you make of those comments . Obviously he was asked about race, given the context of what this all comes in in recent weeks. Race because of what happened with alton sterling and the protests that ensued. But we tend to contexualize the conversation around race and we have to remember not all members of Police Departments are white. Right . So when people are going after Police Officers and if they are indeed targeted, they are going after entire Police Departments which makes up every ethnicity in this country. If you look at the member of the Police Department, i think its the sheriffs colonel or whomever this morning, hes an africanamerican and some of these officers who were shot and killed or at least wounded in baton rouge may have been africanamerican. They have not released the names of the officers yet, though. You know, just because its not a racial attack does not mean that someone did not target Police Officers. And were talking about what is the target. Any time someone shoots a Police Officer, they are targeting a Police Officer because they are going after a Police Officer who is doing their job. Right. So i just want to put that context out there. It may not be explicitly race but officers were targeted. Thats such an important point, don. As you know better than anyone, from the state of louisiana, they passed legislation that makes shooting a Police Officer a hate crime. A hate crime. Yeah. It is a hate crime. And that has been a very controversial law. I think its the blue law. I think they were calling it a Blue Lives Matter law or Something Like that. I dont know if thats the official name of it but thats what they call it. Baton rouge is my home state. I know the streets very well. Its not a very big city and, you know, a lot many people know each other. I happen to have gone to high school with the Baton Rouge Police chief, carl babadi, he graduated the year before me. Its a small town. A lot of people know each other. Its probably two degrees of separation. Yeah, there is a law that was very controversial because many people believe there are already laws on the book that are harsh enough for when people, if you shoot or injure a Police Officer, but with this new law in effect, well see what happens with the suspect or these particular suspects. And it may be, indeed, the first time one of the first times that this legislation is used if not for the three or four young men that they arrested last week who said that they were indeed trying to they were indeed targeting Police Officers when they broke into a pawnshop and stole guns and also looking for ammunition to go after baton rouge Police Officers. Yeah. Don lemon, cnn anchor with me, don, thank you so much. Keep us posted when you get more information as well. Obviously don is from there and knows that the context of this incredibly well and as i want to repeat as our pamela brown is reporting, right now investigators are reviewing video of the fire fight that broke out there in baton rouge this morning. This video was posted to social media, to facebook. It was taken down. But investigators are looking at it right now to see who may have been involved in this shooting. That comes from a Law Enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation to our pamela brown and at the same time, the governor of louisiana is at the hospital right now comforting the families of those officers killed and those officers wounded. Were going to take a quick break. Well be right back with more of this breaking news. All right. Updating you on the breaking news right now. Multiple Police Officers have been shot. Hi. Six Police Officers shot in baton rouge, louisiana. Three are dead at this hour. Listen. [ gunfire ] that was video recorded at the scene of this shootout with police which happened about 9 00 a. M. This morning on the side of a highway when a man with a weapon, a long gun of some sort was walking down the street with a mask all dressed in black. Police were called to the scene and immediately, immediately they were shot. I want to bring in the representative of the sixth district of louisiana. That is the district where this all played out this morning right along airline highway in baton rouge. Congressman, thank you for being with me. This is your community. These are your Police Officers who you are very close with. What are you hearing at this hour from your Law Enforcement contacts . Well, first of all, id like to say that this really is what community is about. We have had places of disaster, whether its floods and other disasters and we come together. I wouldnt be surprised at all to learn that these are folks from out of town, outside agitators that we saw coming and really made things much more aggressive last weekend but in regard to the community, people right now absolutely devastated. We are a very close community. While a pretty big city, a very, very small town feel and folks are very close and just at church this morning, people are in disbelief with what is going on right now. From what you know at this hour and it is very early. Lets be clear, the facts are just starting to come in. Are you hearing that Police Believe that this was an ambush . You know, i had to talk to local Law Enforcement and certainly the word has been used with not any degree of certainty. Basically, saying we are trying to determine if this is an ambush. Some of the reports indicated that there was a 911 call around 8 45 in the central time frame from a woman who said that there was a masked man with an Assault Rifle on airline highway. There were other reports that there was a shooting that occurred before the cops actually got there but i will tell you from some of the Law Enforcement officers that i talked to, the initial officers, when they got to the scene, were being shot at and had no idea where it was coming from. So that sounds like an ambush to me because certainly it seems like Law Enforcement, someone would shoot at Law Enforcement only if they felt threatened but for the Law Enforcement officers to be shot at and not know where the bullets are coming from appears to paint a different picture. Do you know anything, representative graves, about potentially two other suspects on the run right now . We know there is weve heard reporting from police, a manhunt under way for anyone else who may be involved in this. Were hearing the number of two other individuals. What do you know . Thats what Law Enforcement has told us as well, that one suspect was killed and that there is the possibility that up to two others were involved in the shooting. That was the latest information that i have and were actually about to go into another briefing with Law Enforcement in the next 15 minutes or so to get an update on the latest. Before i let you go, the condition of the Police Officers, three officers wounded and three murdered, killed, what do we know about the condition of those three officers at this hour . Its my understanding that one of the three injured officers is in Critical Condition and they are doing everything they can to take care of that one officer, as i understand. Theres another officer who is in moderate condition and one other that appears to be in a little bit better shape. So three degrees of injury, from what i understand. But one of the officers in particular, they indicated he was severely wounded. And obviously we want to be very careful in terms of identifying those officers. We dont have the identity of those officers yet and obviously their families would all be notified and want them notified first before anything is made public. So without asking their names, i will just ask you, congressman, do you happen to know any of those officers personally . Ive got to tell you, im not positive right now. Those that im closest to, i did exchange phone calls and Text Messages with but i do not have the names at this point so i cant say one way or another. I just know that the officers im closest to ive been in touch with them over the past few hours. Congressman garret graves of the sixth district of louisiana, thank you so much for talking to us. What a tragedy in your community right now. Ill let you get back to all of the work i know you have to do. Thank you very much. We are going to take a quick break. Well be back with much more of this breaking news out of baton rouge, louisiana, right after this. Can a toothpaste do everything well . This clean was like pow. It felt like i had just gone to the dentist. My teeth are glowing. They are so white. 6x cleaning , 6x whiteninga in the certain spots that i get very sensitive. I really notice a difference. And at two weeks superior sensitivity relief to sensodyne i actually really like the two steps step 1 cleans and relieves sensitivity, step 2 whitens. Its the whole package. No ones done this. Crest healthy, beautiful smiles for life. All right. As we continue to follow this breaking news of the Police Shooting out of baton rouge, louisiana, we are just for the first time in the past hour or so hearing the Police Radio Communication of what happened during that shootout with police that left three officers dead, three more in the hospital, one we know of at least in Critical Condition. What youre going to hear is police described the man that they say is the shooter and his weapon. Listen. Description of any other suspect . When we pulled up and took a round through the windshield he had a mask on. One subject, all black carrying an ar. Tom fuentes, senior Law Enforcement analyst, former assistant director of the fbi is with me. Tom, what do you hear in that . What i hear to me, it sounds like an ambush because the officer is just arriving. Hes not had any interaction with the subject. As he arrives, he takes a round through the windshield and i think thats pretty indicative that whoever fired that shot is almost waiting for the Police Officer to show up. So to me it sounds very much like an ambush. Lets play some more sound. What im going to play for our viewers now is witness video and sound that was captured during all of it. [ gunfire ] tom, put yourself in the shoes of those officers arriving on the scene walking towards someone with what has been described as a big rifle, a big weapon. What are these officers armed with to respond and how do you approach a situation like that . Are you asking me . Im sorry. I am, tom. Yep. Okay. You know, the officers probably have their handguns and many of them may be equipped with shotguns and Assault Rifles but they wont be carrying them or leaving them in the car and thats because if they are answering another call and they have to go into a building or an office, they cant be Walking Around with Assault Rifles and certainly dont want to leave them in the car where they are easily stolen. So thats one of the problems for these officers on patrol and i had the same problem. We had our handguns and shotguns but nothing more than that. Both weapons would be inadequate against an Assault Rifle like it sounds like in this situation. Secondly, in dallas where we heard the echo ricochetting, it sounds like there are many shooters but we dont know. This is a fairly open area where you wouldnt have an echo. When you hear that many shots, its probably individual shots and, also, pistol fire outside will sound like firecrackers from a distance. Assault rifles will not. Tom fuentes, please stand by. Stay with me. I have to get a quick break in here. At 9 00 this morning, six officers were shot, three murdered. Three in the hospital. One in Critical Condition. One suspect is dead. At this hour, Police Believe two others are on the run. Much more from baton rouge, next. As we continue to follow the breaking news of the Police Shooting deaths in baton rouge, louisiana, today where six officers were attacked, three have been killed, we now have a statement from the president. Let me read that to you. President obama writing, i condemn in the strongest sense of the word the attack on Law Enforcement in baton rouge. For the second time in two weeks, Police Officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were going to do their job when they were killed in a cowardly assault. These attacks on public servants, on the rule of law and Civilized Society must stop. The president going on saying, we may not know the motive for this attack but theres no justification for violence against Law Enforcement. All of us stand united in prayer with the people of baton rouge, with the Police Officers who have been wounded and with the grieving families of the fallen. May god bless them all. That statement just coming to us in part, thats part of the statement from president obama. Our Martin Savidge is here in cleveland where were all covering the Republican National convention. Martin, the context of this is the heightened, heightened security here in cleveland and the attention across this nation because of the events of recent weeks, martin. Like louisiana, cleveland is an open carry state which complicates things for officers. Reporter thats a huge concern for Law Enforcement officers. I was reading a statement coming from the citizens for trump group. They have a large demonstration planned for tomorrow. Many there have been planning to bring their own weapons because it is an open carry state for selfprotection and also to make a statement. Now the organization is saying keep the guns at home. Given what has happened in baton rouge and elsewhere in this country, they do not want or need extra fire power. Law enforcement is extremely concerned because how are you going to tell those who have evil intent and those who are just trying to make a Public Statement. A man was carrying a rifle over his shoulder and he was out to make a statement. Police here have not changed in their posture or attitude but you can tell emotionally things have changed dramatically. Their heads are all on a swivel here. Its only going to get tighter securitywise. Poppy . Martin savidge, thank you. Just to reset for our viewers what we know at this hour, in baton rouge, louisiana, six officers attacked this morning. Three have been murdered. Three more are in the hospital. At least one in Critical Condition. This, as a man with a long rifle walking down the side of a highway opened fire indiscriminately on officers. That shooter is dead. Two more individuals suspected to be involved in this attack are on the run and a manhunt is under way at this hour. We have much more coverage straight ahead. My colleague Anderson Cooper takes it over from here. Well be right back. And youre watching cnn breaking news coverage. Im Anderson Cooper in cleveland. If youre just joining us, were here today ahead of the National Republican Convention Starting tomorrow. Right now, the breaking news to tell you about is in baton rouge, louisiana. At least three Police Officers are dead after a morning daylight shootout. [ gunfire ] this video recorded by a civilian watching the Police Response and the fire fight this morning. It happened on a busy street in east baton rouge near a number of businesses, stores and homes. Police responding to reports of a man with a rifle apparently exchanged fire with one, possibly more suspects. Witnesses say at least one of the men shooting at Police Officers was dressed headtotoe in black and wearing a mask. At least one suspect, one shooter is dead. The situation is definitely not over. Police are on an areawide manhunt for other possible suspects. They are advising everyone who lives in that area to stay inside and lock their doors. I want to be very clear, there is a lot we do not know about this incident that took place this morning. Police had given out some details but it is very sketchy about whether there was a prior shooting that the police came in on or whether this was something targeting police. We simply do not know. Todays shooting is what Baton Rouge Police have feared most amid threats and protests sparked by the alton sterling shooting a week and a half ago. Polo sandoval is joining me. What do we know . After talking to authorities and several sources on the ground, this shooting initially happened on airline highway which if you look at a map, its the highway that splits baton rouge geographically. Officers engaged an individual with a rifle and thats when the suspect was shot and killed but of course in the long run we know that at least six officers were attacked. Three of them fatally and three others still wounded and in the hospital at this point. Were told that there are several reports that have surfaced suggesting that these officers may have been called out there purposefully to potentially be targeted. This is one of several theories that investigators are working with but then on the other side here, as you mentioned, there is at least one witness that has come forward saying that there was a man lying on the ground there at the scene even before officers arrived suggesting that there could have been a shooting that the officers were responding to when things turned violent here. There are two outcomes but ultimately what we have to remember, we now have at least three officers killed amid that growing tension that we have seen nationwide sweeping several cities and finally, anderson, i can tell you after returning from baton rouge when we were there to cover the funeral for alton sterling, the man shot and killed by Police Officers a week and a half ago, there was tension in the air. People were concerned about Law Enforcement to the extent that they were stopping by the Police Department and asking Police Officers to be extra careful and to keep their heads on a swivel as they went on the beat, anderson. Baton rouge police have been on the receiving end of what they consider Credible Threats over the last week or so . At least two of them, anderson. We did report on two of them. One was a breakin at a pawnshop in which several suspects, young men, reportedly stole handguns. One said he would target Police Officers using those stolen handguns. After being on the ground and speaking to several individuals and obtaining information, there is at least some details here that are casting or we are skeptical of some of those reports but ultimately thats what authorities used on the ground to explain a major Police Presence at these demonstrations. The highway is now considered a massive crime scene. Polo sandoval, thank you. I want to bring in brady vancel who says he witnessed the shooting and told our affiliate that he locked eyes with the shooter. He joins us by phone. Brady, if you can take us through from the beginning, what did you see . What did you hear . Well, a little bit after 8 30 this morning, i was pulling up to a job off the street behind the crime scene and the shooting to come over here and, you know, do my normal day of work. When we pulled up in the driveway, i heard a bunch of raucous, a bunch of loud noises and i wasnt sure if it was gunshots. After about the 20th, 25th shot, i thought maybe its someone working over there so i figured ill take a better look to make sure its okay because there was no pattern and the sound of the shots. So it was a little bizarre. When i walked around the corner down the street, i walked up the street, maybe 30 yards and i walked around a corner by a fence and when i looked off in the far about 70, 80 yards from me was a man who was lying on the ground and he was by himself. There wasnt nobody chasing him. There wasnt nobody behind him. He was a civilian because he was in regular clothes and had different colored clothes on than a uniform. I was kind of in shock, in awe of the situation and by the time i clicked back to what was really going on, i looked to my right and there was a man dressed in all black with a mask on and a rifle in his arm walking towards me away from the body. And when he got about 30 yards from me, 35, 40 yards from me, he realized, okay, well he looked up and saw me and i froze, he froze for a second and then he turned around and ran in the opposite direction at the same time i turned around and ran in the opposite direction and during that time there were shots still being fired from multiple handguns. I mean, i could hear the Police Officers coming. I could hear their sirens on the highway around the corner but at that time when i was looking into the parking lot, there was nobody but a man, a man lying on the ground and a man running with the gun away from that man lying on the ground. And it wasnt officers on the scene until after i got back in the house, you know, locked all of the doors and the windows and watched for the cops to pull into the parking lot and contained the situation. Let me walk you through this again and i want to ask you about the details. Only talk to what you know and saw. You may not be able to answer something. Thats totally fine. You said this was around 8 30 a. M. , is that correct . A little bit after. Between 8 30 and 9 00. Okay. And the man you saw laying on the ground, where was he laying on the ground . Directly behind party city next to the dumpster. He was in that parking lot that was completely empty. There was nobody in the parking lot other than the gunman and he was lying right behind the store. And what did he look like, the man lying on the ground . Did you see blood . Did you see him moving . I was in shock at the moment. All i could see was red clothes and a body lying. Thats all i could make out of it. By the time i started to realize what i was looking at was the time i looked over and saw someone else running in my direction. This may be a dumb direction but youre describing him as a body. How do you know he was dead or a body as opposed to Somebody Just sleeping . Well, that many gunfire, you know, that many gunshots and then, you know, and that type of situation, anybody in their right mind would know that this is a still body back here lying on the ground and in the middle of a parking lot. No one would just randomly sleep right in the middle of the parking lot right next to the dumpster and with the man running away with the rifle in his arms, just completely led me to believe that this was a body laying on the ground because there was no movement whatsoever. He was not he was not moving at all. And the man on the ground you said the man on the ground was wearing red. Red shirt, red pants . Red shirt, im pretty sure. Okay. And the gunman, you said he was wearing all black with a mask. What kind of a mask . Do you remember . Possibly a ski mask or something of that sort. It wasnt a hoalloween mask. From what it looks like thats fine. It looked like a planned attack and it doesnt necessarily mean that it was against Police Officers but it was a planned attack being that he had a mask and an Assault Rifle in his person. Thats my only reason to believe the reasonable explanation. Brady, did you get a look at the rifle, what kind of rifle it was . I did not get a look at the rifle. I mean, i seen it. I seen the rifle and that it was a rifle. From the sounds of it, i assumed it was an ar. A semiautomatic. Brady, you also brady, you also said that you then heard as you started to leave, you locked eyes with the person. I think you said that as you were leaving there was more shooting and it sounded like handguns but you said that was Police Arrived . Im not sure. The second i pulled up into the driveway, there was different guns being shot off rapidly, back to back, back to forth. Three shots here and three shots from another gun and you could tell that they were different guns. So youre saying before you actually saw the man laying on the ground youre saying before you actually saw the man lying on the ground, the shots you heard you felt were from multiple firearms . Right. Yes, sir, they were. They were. For sure. Okay. So its okay. And when you left, you heard police coming. Do you rather any more shots before Police Arrived . You said police got there once you were already inside. As you were leaving did you hear any more shots when the man was running away . When i got back in the house, i heard more rapid gunfire going off back to back to back which sounded like the same gun. He was far enough in the distance and firing towards the police or i have no idea. But i did hear more gunshots. That was once police were on the scene . I guess that was when they were pulling up. They could have been pulling up the moment and thats when i turned back in their direction. Brady, i appreciate you talking to us. I know its a chaotic and confusing situation. I appreciate you telling us what you know. Appreciate it. Brady vancel. President obama has just released a statement on the shooting. We may not know the motives for this attack, he said, but i want to be clear, theres no justification for violence against Law Enforcement. None. These are attacks and the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no one. They advance no causes. The officers in baton rouge, the officers in dallas, they need us to be at our best. We also heard this afternoon the president placed separate phone calls to the louisiana governor, john bel edwards, and the president pledged any support from the federal government by local authorities. Joining me now, our cnn Law Enforcement analyst art roderick, bob reid, former Cuyahoga County sheriff. Art, lets start off with you. Obviously i mean, this witness, this is one single witness and we know that witness testimony is difficult at best. Given what the witness said, whats your sense of what is happening . My sense of it is that hes viewing it from his perspective. He had a good witness with a lot of details but i dont think he actually knew when Law Enforcement showed up. Theres a lot of conflicting information coming out. At this point, usually five, six hours into this, we would have a good idea as to what is going on. The thing that concerns me here, weve got to get to the reason why as quickly as possible so if theres an alert that needs to be put out to Law Enforcement nationwide, that information needs to get out as soon as we can get it. What we dont know at this point, was this some sort of dealings between two people, one with a long rifle wearing black, one who ended up dead and then the police come upon it or was this Something Else, specifically targeting police . We dont know. Sure. This could have been a robbery gone bad, a drug deal gone bad or their killing of a civilian to get police to come to the area. Its all a possibility. Sure. Its all a possibility if it was a coordinated ambush situation. In a case like this, you have three officers confirmed dead. I believe two are from the Baton Rouge Police department and others in surgery and wounded. How chaotic i mean, this is incredibly chaotic scene. This is the worst possible situation. This is. And, of course, again, we dont know the reason why this occurred but this is not an average day in the life of any Police Officer. When you have three officers down, another three, four, five wounded, this is an absolute worse case scenario. This Police Department is stressed out enough as it is. I know their federal partners and state and local partners are coming in to assist them. I know the u. S. Marshals are providing security around the Police Department and assisting with the investigation when it comes to the phone of the individual and they are trying to track that. They have put out scant information and they are appealing to the publics help because they dont know, frankly, they believe its possible that there are at least two other suspects out there. But those are early reports. Im confident they are keeping the identity of the suspect confidential for Law Enforcement because they want to but art is right. We need to know right away if its an ambush situation for Law Enforcement all over this nation and in cleveland specifically. Weve got to take a quick break. You are watching breaking news coverage. Well be right back. The heirloom tomato. Intenselyflavored. Colorfullydiverse. Beautifullymisshapen. Cultivated for generations, its the unexpected hero of any dish. When you cook with incredible ingredients. You make incredible meals. Fresh ingredients. Stepbysteprecipes. Delivered to your door. Get your first two meals free blueapron. Com cook. Dale oh, hey, rob. Whats with the minivan . Its not mine. I dont dale, honey, is your tummy still hurting, or are you feeling better to ride in the front seat . Oh is this one of your motorcycling friends . Hey, chin up there, dale. Lots of bikers also drive cars. In fact, you can save big if you bundle them both with progressive. Id like that. Great. Whoo. Youve got soft hands. He uses my moisturizer. See you, dale. Bye, rob. It is breaking news on cnn right now, a deadly shootout in baton rouge, louisiana, three Police Officers are dead and three others in the hospital. One suspect is dead. Police are searching for possible other suspects right now in baton rouge. On the phone with me, the former governor of louisiana, bobby jindal. Thank you for joining me. Your reaction, first of all, to this deadly incident in your home town. Anderson, obviously a tragic, awful day for the people of baton rouge, for our entire country. You he never think this would happen in your home town. It nearly happened near Police Headquarters. Its time to offer our thoughts and prayers for these families and time for us to come together and say all lives matter, black, white, brown, red, it doesnt matter, blue lives, all lives matter. Its a time to be united, not divided. Do you have any more information about exactly what happened here, whether this was some sort of an incident that was targeting police or whether its an incident that Police Responded to . Do you know . I talked to Law Enforcement. The governor will be doing a press conference so i dont have any information other than what theyve told the public. I will say that where this happened, i just happened to be on the road near that area and very quickly you saw multiple police cars with their lights and sirens race towards that scene. I was driving near the hospital and very quickly police raced there and within an hour you have the long guns out and they were controlling access to the emergency room. This is an area of town where its right next to the headquarters, where the city police is. Its around the corner from where the state Police Headquarters is as well. Its near the main library, near an area where my kids go to play baseball and soccer and its down the road from one of the citys shopping mas. Its a normal part of town. It could be anywhere in america, quite frankly. How stretched is the Baton Rouge Police department at this point given everything going on for the last several weeks . Being look, its been a very tense several days. Weve had Police Officers from all over the state and Police Resources from all over the country and especially from all over the state coming in and spending the nights in baton rouge to help supplement local Law Enforcement and they have called in sheriff deputies, other troopers and they have been coming in for several nights and helping provide security and help protect the community. Ironically, things had begun to quiet down. The last few days have been more normal more obviously with the memorial, the service on friday. There was a lot of attention. I think police had actually felt like they were beginning to turn a corner and, unfortunately, we saw this tragic, tragic situation. We saw this awful shooting. Police run to the danger, not away from it, every single day. They really are heroes when you support them. Its time for us to be united. Many people are going to or leaving church services, faith services. Our own pastor this weekend, even before the shooting, preached the need for us to be united and offer prayers for the community and to come together instead of being so divided. Yeah. No matter what the circumstances of this particular shooting and we dont know exactly how it began, but the bottom line is, three officers are dead and three others are wounded right now and certainly our thoughts and prayers are with them. Former governor bobby jindal, thank you for being with us. Thank you, anderson. Youre watching breaking news coverage. Were going to take a short break. Well have more in just a moment. I found her wandering miles from home. When the phone rang at 5am, i knew it was about mom. I see how hard its been on her at work and i want to help. For the 5 million americans living with alzheimers, and millions more who feel its effects. Lets walk together to make an even bigger impact and end alzheimers for good. Find your walk near you at alz. Org walk. Some neighbors are Energy Saving superstars. How do you become a superstar . With pg es free Online Home Energy checkup. In just under 5 minutes you can see how you use energy and get quick and easy tips on how to keep your monthly bill down and your Energy Savings up. Dont let your neighbor enjoy all the savings. Take the Free Home Energy checkup. Honey, we need a new refrigerator. Visit pge. Com checkup and get started today. We continue to follow breaking news in baton rouge, louisiana. Three officers have been shot and killed. Three more are wounded. A gunman or gunmen may be on the run. The deadly shootout happened on a busy street in broad daylight. A witness captured this video. [ bleep ]. [ gunfire ] one suspect is confirmed dead. Police say the suspects was dressed in all black, wearing a mask but may not have acted alone. They are warning people in baton rouge for anyone wearing similar clothing or with a long gun. I want to show you more video from the shooting. [ gunfire ] right now we are told that nearby businesses are in lockdown. At least two hospitals are in lockdown with armed Police Standing guard outside. The city of cleveland was already on a heightened state of security and todays shooting only adds to the concerns of Law Enforcement tasked with protecting the protesters. Joining me now, tom fuentes. Retired lapd Police Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey also joining me. Tom, first of all, the situation in baton rouge, what do you make of this . You have this eyewitness who says he saw somebody down before Police Arrived but then the police are saying only one suspect has been killed and that person was dressed in black. Well, i think the problem i have with that report, anderson, when you listen to that, you hear at least 20 shots and so did the person dressed in black that the witness saw, is that the person that gunned down the individual on the street and caused him to be killed . Now hes coming down the street and the witness says they made eye contact, he was walking toward him and then turned around and went the other way. Does that mean he was only looking to shoot at Police Officers and when he saw a civilian he didnt want to kill the civilian, turned and went in a different direction . Thats all part of the confusion of the witness accounts right now. Yeah. I think we should be very clear, we simply do not know the details of exactly how these officers were killed, how the others were wounded. Theres still a lot to be determined. Obviously the baton rouge shooting draws response from the Presumptive Republican nominee. Just in the past hour, donald trump sent out this tweet, we are trying to fight isis and now our own people are killing our police, our country is divided and out of control. The world is watching. Cheryl, in terms of what this means for cleveland, clevelands police union had asked the Ohio Governor john kasich for an end to open carry here during the convention. The governor has said thats just not possible. How difficult is this security situation in cleveland . Obviously when you look at whats happened over the last week or so. Well, anderson, let me first start off by expressing my condolences to the men and women of the Baton Rouge Police department and the families who have losted a loved one today. With regards to what is going to happen today, with people having the ability to open carry, it makes no sense to me. With everything going on, we already keep our head on a swivel. What i can tell you wearing a uniform for 20 years for lapd, complacency kills. When we conduct business as usual and that mindset, we set ourselves to be hurt. We know who the bad guys are by and large but when you have a person with a weapon, is this a good guy or bad guy . I may not be able to make that determination. It makes no sense to have people who are not required to be armed at a convention. Tom, it certainly makes it difficult for Law Enforcement, more people to keep eyes on. Yeah, my fear is that if you have all of the protesters that support trump, open carrying long guns and you have Law Enforcement carrying long guns, you know, one stray shot and you could have a situation like that biker bar in texas where 100 people get shot because of just one shot and you dont even know who fired the first one. In terms of the investigation, cheryl, in baton rouge, whats going on right now. Obviously the whole area is on lockdown. You have three Police Officers dead and three others in the hospital right now. You have Law Enforcement agencies coming in from all around to a police force thats been stretched thin over the last week or so with all of the protests and conflict going on. This has got to be an incredibly chaotic situation. Well, absolutely. But listen, for the trained professionals, this is what we do and this is what we train for. What i believe is going on right now and theres a lot of information that hasnt been shared and right fully should not be shared with the public with regard to the young man or woman im assuming its a male that was shot and killed, the suspect that was shot and killed. I believe the officers are probably working backwards from that individual to try to determine whatever they can with regards to associates, acquaintances, what may be on social media for that individual and others that are related to him to help find out if these other people who are believed to be at large are within a close proximity and able to be taken into custody as well safely. And again, the police have appealed for the publics help. Anybody who has any information or has seen anything specific in the baton rouge area, they want to hear from you. Cheryl dorsey, tom fuentes, thank you. President obama will speak at 4 30 and make a public address. Youre watching breaking live coverage. Well be right back. Watch stains disappear right before your eyes. Remove 4 times more stains than detergent alone. The sunll come out for people with Heart Failure, tomorrow is not a given. But entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. Tomorrow, tomorrow. I love ya, tomorrow in the largest Heart Failure study ever. Entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading Heart Failure medicine. Women who are pregnant must not take entresto. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. If youve had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, dont take entresto. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure. Kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. Tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow. Ask your heart doctor about entresto. And help make tomorrow possible. Youre only a day away you know what they used to do with guys like that when they were in a place like this . Theyd be carried out on a stretcher, folks. And you can tell them to go f themselves i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldnt lose any voters, okay . Its like incredible. When mexico sends its people, theyre bringing drugs, theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists. You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. You gotta see this guy ahh, i dont know what i said, ahh. I dont remember. Hes going like, i dont remember our children and grandchildren will look back at this time. At the choices we are about to make. The goals we will strive for. The principles we will live by. And we need to make sure that they can be proud of us. Im Hillary Clinton and i approve this message. Incr. Think it wouldotection in a pwork, but it does. Dnt. Its called always discreet for bladder leaks, the super. Absorbent core turns liquid to gel. I know im wearing it but no one else will. Always discreet for bladder leaks. [so i use quickbooks and run mye entire business from the cloud. I keep an eye on sales and expenses from anywhere. Even down here in the dark i can still see were having a great month. And celebrate accordingly. I run on quickbooks. Thats how i own it. Three Police Officers killed and three wounded from the Baton Rouge Police. Weve just received a statement from attorney general loretta lynch. For the second time in two weeks, multiple officers have been shot in the line of duty. Theres no place in the United States for appalling violence and i condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms. I pledge the full support of the department of justice as this investigation unfolds. Our hearts and prayers are with the fallen wounded officers and their families at this time. The governor of louisiana will appear with the Louisiana State police at 4 00 making statements. President obama will be making a statement at 4 30 this afternoon. Of course, well bring that to you live. We continue to follow this breaking situation. Unclear exactly how many suspects may still be out there if, in fact, there are any. Three Police Officers are dead. We know that after the shootout in baton rouge. Three others in the hospital. At least one in Critical Condition. As for the suspects behind this, one gunman is dead. Joining me is retired lieutenant russell honore. What was your first reaction when you heard the news . Well, i said, not again. I thought it might have been a burglary or a robbery gone bad and then as the pieces started coming together, it sounded like a shootout with police. Whether they were attempting to move towards the Police Headquarters, i dont know what their intent is but this city was on edge already, anderson, as you know. We just went through an emotional few days with protests going on last week. A lot of work from the local politicians from the governor to the mayor to the local legislators and city officials to try and keep a calm and a peace in our city. But what happened in dallas and then what happened in nice, people are more and more on edge. This idea of the open carry has got police on full alert. They are on full alert, anderson. For residents in baton rouge, as you said, this city has been the police force has been stretched thin over the last week plus. What is it like in baton rouge right now . How chaotic, you know, for residents, is that . They are asking people to stay home and few cars are on the street and particularly in that area, the crossroads of goodwood and thats a go to church road there on sunday morning, is the primary thing happening there. But come tomorrow morning, thats a major thorouarea that connects that intersection. You can cut the tension with a knife. There was just another incident with a person coming through and told the police they had a gun in the car and that started almost another incident, getting him out of the car. So this open carry is going to drive American Police crazy. I spent 9 1 2 years overseas and none of the places i spent in asia and europe they had open gun and you could walk the streets in peace. This is other than when we were deployed to kuwait and iraq, this is crazy to think you can carry a gun at anywhere or any time. Its putting the police hyped up and people get confused. I dont know how they are going to handle this mess in the convention but thats totally stupid. Totally stupid. Lieutenant general russel honore, thank you. Were waiting to hear from the governor and the state police. The three officers who are wounded and in the hospital at this hour, were trying to learn more about the three officers who lost their lives in the line of duty but, also, are there other suspects out there . The police several hours ago appealed for any information, anybody who saw anything unusual. One suspect was seen wearing black, said to be wearing a mask with a long gun. That suspect is believed to be dead but are there others out there. That is the question right now that the police are actively investigating. Were going to take a short break. Well be right back. 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Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the killing of three Police Officers in baton rouge as well as the wounding of three others. Essentially, there are two scenarios being examined in baton rouge, this, according to several Law Enforcement officers via our evan perez. That number one, the officers were responding to a legitimate crime call and stumbled upon the suspects and were shot in the course of that or this was some sort of a setup to actually draw the police in. The sources expressed skepticism about some witness accounts that other shooters were involved and on the loose. So again, still a number of scenarios being explored by police. Really the whole area is still a very active crime scene. Were following the breaking news in baton rouge. Three officers confirmed killed, three more wounded. According to police early on, they said other suspects could be at large. Other gunmen could be at large. But that is not clear. They didnt have any hard information about that. The deadly shootout happened on a busy street in broad daylight. A witness did record some video. Police say they are investigating that as well. Lets take a look at the video. Well get you that video shortly. We expect to hear from louisianas Governor John Bel Edwards in about 15 minutes from now. Hes going to appear with the Louisiana State police and president obama is going to speak at 4 30 p. M. Eastern. Were here in cleveland, ohio, where the Republican National Convention Begins tomorrow. The shooting in baton rouge is prompting concerns here. The police union called on john kasich to temporarily restrict the open carry law and he could do an executive order or something. I dont care if its constitutional or not at this point. They can fight about it after the rnc or lift it after the rnc but i want him to lift the order in Cuyahoga County. John kasich said he could not do that. In light of what has happened today, martin, police are concerned . Reporter right. They are. This open carry is proving to be a nightmare for Law Enforcement as they pry to provide security here in cleveland. Theres two things. Theres the citizens for trump. Theres a big protest tomorrow in support of donald trump but many have been planning as part of their agreement with the Second Amendment and open carry law, they were going to bring their own guns. Now they have put out a message, no, leave your guns at home. This is proving to be a security nightmare. So they are asking, dont bring your guns. If you do, were going to write down and keep track of who you are. On top of that, theres the new black panthers who have stated that they intend to bring weapons to their demonstrations here in cleveland and now they are backing off of that statement as well. There seems to be a realization that bringing weapons into this kind of a tense security situation, in light of what has happened, is almost suicidal. Youve heard a good friend of mine, who is very passionate about the men and women of the cleveland Police Department, but the reality is, its in the ohio constitution. Its not just something you can suspend for, say, a week during a Political Convention and not something you can snap your fingers and get done. It may make sense and certainly Law Enforcement would like to see it happen but constitutionally the governor of this state has his hands tied. He knows that as does the head of the union. Were at the end of a demonstration here that was very peaceful. You dont see more Police Officers and its hard to imagine how you could see any more. One thing is for certain, this they are going to be hyper vigilant. Their emotions will be on razors edge. Anderson . Understandably. Martin savidge, thank you so much. Were going to take a quick break. Well have more coverage of the shooting in baton rouge in a moment. Words panera lives by. No artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners. No colors from artificial sources. 100 of our food will be clean by years end. Thats food as it should be. Sorry, just getting a quote on motorcycle insurance from progressive. Yeah . Yeah, they have safe rider discounts, and with total loss coverage, i get a new bike if mines totaled. But hows their Customer Service . Great. 24 7. Just like here. Meat loaf [dings bell] just like here. Anybody got a pack. That needs leadin . Serving all your motorcycle insurance needs. Now, thats progressive. When you cook with incredible thingredients. Ato. You make incredible meals. Fresh ingredients, stepbystep recipies, delivered to your door for less than nine dollars a meal. Get your first two meals free at blueapron. Com cook. Welcome back. Three Police Officers in baton rouge have been shot and killed. Three more are wounded. Early on police said multiple gunmen could be at large. Were anticipating a press conference from the governor and state police in just about eight minutes. We hope to get the latest update. Police say they were investigating two scenarios. One, that the officers may have stumbled onto an ongoing crime. The second that officers were lured there and ambushed. Joining me now my guests. Art, they have not given out a lot of details. Do you think thats obviously intentional . Not that they dont have details. I think whats happening now is when you work these types of high profile cases you dont want to blow leads that youve got just by blasting it out on the public, so i think theyre working through a lot of good information they have. Theyre not going to come forward and tell us all the good stuff theyve got, but i think they have some fairly good information at this point and theyre just working those leads to the end. Maybe well hear something at 4 00. President obama will be making a public address or Public Statement at 4 30 p. M. Bobby, you and i were talking about the open carry here. You were the sheriff of Cuyahoga County. I think theyre going to be looked at in a hostile way by Law Enforcement. If something happens, an accidental discharge, fights between two groups, it doesnt, to me common sense dictates if in fact over a period of time saying this is a state of emergency, lets suspend those rights. The governor of ohio said point blank thats not possible. No matter what the police union would like or others may want. Cedric alexander, we havent talked to you in the last hour or so. What do you make of what were seeing out of baton rouge . Information is continuing to emerge, and hopefully from this press conference were going to hear from the governor in a few minutes we may learn some things. I certainly do agree with art. Theres going to be certain information thats going to be held very closely to the chest because you dont want to jeopardize the integrity of this investigation. Regardless of whether or not they have identified who these perpetrators may or may not be, what was the motivation behind this is what i think we all really want to hear about. I think thats going to be determined over time. We dont know if this was a deliberate attack upon these officers or we dont know if these officers ran up on them in some kind of way. But at the end of the day, anderson, we have three dead officers. An attack on them is quite frankly an attack on every american in this country. Thats the rub for me and other Law Enforcement officials across the country along with other american citizens out there who were just civilians. It is an attack on america. I appreciate that. Were going to take a short break. Again, we are anticipating the governor as well as the state police giving a News Conference at the top of the hour in just several minutes. Were going to take a short break. Hopefully, well have that live for you when we come back. And good afternoon. Im Anderson Cooper in cleveland, ohio. We are waiting for louisiana governor John Bell Edwards to speak to reporters along with state police about the shootings this morning in baton rouge. President obama will speak later this hour set to be at 4 30. Youll see both live here on cnn. At least three Police Officers are dead after the daylight shootout. Now we have some new information we are just starting to get in. Video recorded, seen by a civilian, watching the Police Response and firefight this morning. Sir sir move out of the way i just heard about four gunshots. One man who was shooting at Police Officers is dead. Now a Law Enforcement source tells cnn a man matching his description was seen sitting in a car not far from the citys Police Headquarters shortly before this shootout. It happened near a number of businesses and stores and homes. Police responding initially to reports of a man with a rifle exchanged fire with one gunman, possibly others. That has not yet been determined. Witnesses say at least one of the men shooting at Police Officers was dressed head to toe in black wearing some sort of a mask. Right now we know at least one suspect, one shooter, is dead. Again, the latest information from our pamela brown is that according to one source, a man matching that mans description was seen sitting in a vehicle out near Police Headquarters before the shootings. The situation is definitely not over. Police are on an areawide manhunt for other possible suspects. Everyone who lives in that area of baton rouge needs to stay inside and lock their doors. Paula, i may have to interrupt you if the governor does begin this press conference, but lets update our viewers. A few hours ago, we heard from Police Officers on the ground who said there could be two other individuals that theyre seeking out. There are people who not only live in baton rouge, but also work and go to school there, including Louisiana State university. In fact, just a few moments ago i read a statement that was released by lsu. Officials there saying although the shooting occurred a good distance from the campus theyre taking security measures to make sure everybody stays safe. Lets listen into governor John Bell Edwards as well as state police officials. They are just gathering right now for the News Conference. Were here today to give you an overview of what occurred today in baton rouge, louisiana. Today with us that will be speaking will state Police Superintendent colonel mike edmonds edmondson. Hes going to give a rundown of what we can provide. Following the colonel, will be parish sheriff sid gotreaux followed by carl dabidi followed by walt green, who will comment on the federal perspective, followed by the baton rouge rouge mayor and our governor John Bell Edwards. Were not going to be taking questions at the end. Were going to provide you everything that we know up to this point, so the briefing will conclude with governor edwards remarks. Thank you. First of all, thank you all for being here. Im colonel Mike Edmondson, superintendent of the Louisiana State police. Were getting phone calls from around the nation and around the world. We want and need your prayers. Baton rouge is in need of those prayers right now, so we thank you for those. We want you to know we appreciate every single one of them going on at this time. Were not going to take questions at the end of this because it is an active, it is an ongoing, investigation that has a lot of moving parts right now with multiple agencies. Louisiana state police is the lead agency with regard to the investigation itself. Well be working very closely with these baton rouge parishs office. Were going to give you a 1800 number for the public to have as we move forward. Let me make something clear right now. Youre getting a lot of information. Youre interviewing a lot of people. If it does not come from myself, the chief of police, or the East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff, we cannot confirm it as being factual. Just know that out front. Were going to have another press Conference Tomorrow afternoon at 1 00 p. M. Central standard time. We want to allow our detectives and all our investigators the crime scene, its a very large crime scene. Were going to tell people in the baton rouge area if you do not need to be in that area of airline highway and old hammond highway, stay out of that area because were going to be working that throughout the evening and throughout the night. Please also note that there is not an active shooter scenario in baton rouge. No active scenario that involves a shooter in the city of baton rouge. We do believe based on the information that we have again this is ongoing. We believe the person that shot and killed our officers, that he is a person that was shot and killed at the scene. Thats what we know right now. What we do not believe is we have any other shooter held up in the baton rouge area. This investigation has a lot of moving parts and pieces. Well be moving and going on each one of those, but right now there is no active shooter scenario going on in baton rouge. Im going to read it to make sure you have the information. Today at approximately 8 40 a. M. , several louisiana airport officers were shot near airline highway, old hammond highway. A call into the Police Department saying there was a guy carrying a weapon, carrying a rifle, walking in that particular area at airline. That was the information that ga came into us. Local officers were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Three officers have died from injuries. Two from the Baton Rouge Police department and one from the baton rouge parish Sheriffs Office. One just got out of surgery a short time ago. Two additional officers suffered nine lifethreatening wounds. They are in stable condition at the hospital right now. Baton rouge officers at a Convenience Store observed the individual. He was wearing all black standing behind a Beauty Supply store holding a rifle. At approximately 8 42 a. M. , reports received of shots fired. At approximately 8 44 a. M. , reports received of officers down on the scene. At 8 45, reports received of more shots being fired. At 8 46 a. M. , reports received of the suspect again he was wearing all black standing near a car wash located right next to the Convenience Store. At 8 48 our emergency em srks u started arriving at the scene to render first aid. Officers engaged the suspect at that particular time and he ultimate lly died at the scene. Those were officers that were responding to the scene itself. State police and multiple agencies responded to the scene in an attempt to secure the area. We in Law Enforcement ask the public to stay vigilant. We want to know if you see something suspicious and you know whats suspicious and out of the ordinary in your particular area. Call your local Police Department. You know that number. Call that particular number. If you see suspicious activity and you dont contact your local Police Department, call the following number. It is 1800callfbi. 18002255324. Again, we do not have an active shooter scenario in the city of baton rouge. We are working the investigation. Its going to take us in multiple directions. A lot of leads out there were following on. If you see something out of the ordinary, please call us. Well have a 1 00 p. M. Press Conference Tomorrow afternoon. Well completely update you on anything thats going on with this. Sheriff . Thank you, colonel. As the colonel has just stated, we had six officers that were shot today in East Baton Rouge Parish. The chief will speak to those individuals in a minute. We have three East Baton Rouge Parish sheriffs that were shot. One is deceased, a 45yearold. One is in Critical Condition fighting for his life as we speak, 41yearold. And one had nonlifethreatening injuries. Hes in surgery right now. Hes 51 years old. Each one of these individuals married. Each one of these individuals have family. Were grieving as a Law Enforcement community. Were grieving for each other. Were grieving for our loss and were grieving for our families. And we ask for your prayers. Not only for us, like i say, for the deputies, but the families and the coworkers. As Law Enforcement, we are a family and we stand here together as you can see. But our number one priority is the safety of our community, the safety of the people that live here, the safety of Law Enforcement. We have activated the Louisiana Sheriffs Association task force. As you can see behind me, several of my fellow sheriffs are here. We want to assure you we are having a coordinated effort that is Going Forward to ensure that we continue to provide the Services Necessary to protect the citizens of this parish. With gods help, we will get through this. To me, this is not so much about gun control as it is about whats in mens hearts. And until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people, if we dont do that and this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people. So i would just ask for your prayers and your support for all of the families of those that are involved here today and continue to pray for this parish, this city, this state, and this nation. Its with a heavy heart that i stand here today. As the others have said, weve had six officers shot today. Three of those officers would be our pd officers. Two were killed in the line of duty. One is 41 years old and has just under a year of service. The other was 32 years old with ten years of service. One nonlife threatening injury. The officer was 41 years old and has nine years of service. We would ask for prayers for this community, for our officers, for the families that have been affected by todays senseless shootings that went on this morning. Prayers for all Law Enforcement. Not just brpd, but for all of us. We stand united. This is a united front. Make no mistake about that. This is very united. Public safety remains our priority and we will continue to do our job in the light of whats happened. We have several agencies from outside that are coming in to lend support and help. Our officers have been depleted for the last 12, 14 days. Theres other agencies who are coming in to help us and back us up, and that is for this communitys safety. As the sheriff said, we have activated the Sheriffs Task force. And it is a coordinated effort Going Forward. Well get through this as a family. Well get through this as a community. But i want all of the brpd officers to know i support you. Every single one of them, i stand with you. I stand beside you. And we are going to get through this and well get through this together. This is not going to this is not going to tarnish this city or this department. Were going to move forward. Thank you. This is indeed a tragic day for the city of baton rouge. On behalf of the attorney general of the United States and myself, i want to offer my condolences to the families as well as the officers that are involved in this shooting. I can promise you with the backing of the department of justice and the attorney general all federal Law Enforcement assets that are needed will be given to this investigation. We will go wherever it takes us to conclude this investigation. I would tell you that our continued support with federal, state, and local Law Enforcement in this matter has been great. We have agents from the atf, the fbi, as well as the United States Marshals Service as well as people in my Office Currently assisting with the investigation, and well continue to do so until justice is served. Thank you. Let me tell you what. This is truly a sad day in baton rouge as we now meet again behind senseless killings. We continue to ask the question and continue to make the statement, let peace prevail in baton rouge and this parish. We must look ahead. The president has acknowledged this violence and will reiterate those things in about i think around 3 30 our time. But again, the people that you see here today let me say unequivocally, the president has responded to the needs of baton rouge. Not only that. The agencies you see here have always been partners with the state police, the Sheriffs Office, and the city police. We are one family all seeking justice for all of our people. And so let me thank the president and also ms. Jarret for their calls and the governor will elaborate also on the call he got from the president. But we must say that we ask you now for your prayers. We also pray for those who were killed or injured today in the incident. We want you to pray for their families and be with them not only today, but in the future. They are our first responders. Now we pledge to them and their families that we will be their first responders. We must strive every day to be one nation under god in with liberty and justice for all. God bless you. Well, today has been a very tough day here in baton rouge and in louisiana and in our country. An absolutely unspeakable heinous attack on Law Enforcement here in baton rouge claimed the lives of two baton rouge Police Officers, one sheriffs deputy, and injured three others, one of whom today right now as we speak is absolutely fighting for his life. Its unjustified. Its unjustifiable. The violence, the hatred, just has to stop. And its at times like this i wish the command of the english language that i have were more adequate to the task to convey the full range of emotions that i am feeling and to express them on behalf of the state of louisiana. Earlier today, i along with mayor holden and the Law Enforcement community here gathered with the family members of the victims at the hospital. And when i tell you unspeakable tragedy, its unspeakable that these men risking their lives to protect and serve this community were taken out the way that they were. They are our real life, everyday heros. As you have been told by colonel edmondson, this is an Ongoing Investigation. There are a lot of moving parts and multiple agencies. I want to reassure everyone here in baton rouge and the state that were doing everything humanly possible to make sure everyone is protected. Every resource is going to be available to be used to bring these perpetrators, if theres more than one, to justice. And obviously, it means federal, state, and local. You just heard from the u. S. Attorney from here in the middle district in baton rouge, but were being aided by the fbi, the atf agencies as well. But i also spoke with the president of the United States a couple of hours who called to express on behalf of himself and the first lady but also the people of the United States their condolences, their best wishes for those who were injured for their full and speedy recovery, but also their prayers for the people here in baton rouge and around the country. We have to do better. An attack on one of us is an an attack on all of us. And the people who carried out this attack, the individuals, they do not represent the people of baton rouge or the state of louisiana or whats best about our country. They dont represent the values we stand for. Obviously, our community is hurting and only through peace and unity can we heal. And thats going to take constructive dialogue. There simply is no place for more violence. That doesnt help anyone. It doesnt further the conversation. It doesnt address any injustice perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself. And we are not going to tolerate more hate and violence tearing apart the communities and families of louisiana. So as i did just a few days ago, im inviting the people around the country to join their prayers to mine that our nation, that our community here, can heal, that we can get past this, and certainly pray for the recovery of those officers who were injured today, but pray for all of their officers. All of our officers here in baton rouge and around the state and around the country and their family members, who every day expose themselves to great risk of harm simply so they can protect and serve as they have sworn to do. As you were told by colonel edmondson, we are not going to take questions at this point. There will be another briefing, press briefing, tomorrow at 1 00. And we will then update you all with any Additional Information that we gather between now and then, so i want to thank you for covering this press conference. Again, i ask everyone to join with the folks of louisiana in solidarity so as a nation we can heal. We can get past this. And we can be what were supposed to be in the United States of america because were not there today. God bless you. 1 00 tomorrow, well have a briefing. Anything significant that happens before then, well make sure youre notified of it, but please stay with us on that. Thank you all very much for being here. You heard a number of officials. Governor John Bell Edwards was the last to speak, but we heard from colonel Mike Edmondson from the state police. The headline from colonel edmondson that there is no active shooter scenario right now in baton rouge, that the person who shot and killed the Police Officers in baton rouge and wounded three Police Officers in baton rouge they believe now was shot and killed. That was the person wearing all black said to be with a mask and a long gun. That person was shot in a shootout with police they believe. Unclear right now they said, look, this is an Ongoing Investigation with multiple agencies and a lot of moving parts. Unclear if that person had help, but they believe only one shooter was involved. There is no active shooter scenario right now in baton rouge. The call came in around 8 45 a. M. A guy carrying a rifle was seen walking down the street dressed in black. Around 8 42, there was reports of shots fired. There were exchanges of gunfire around 8 44 and 8 48. Thats when police were able to kill the gunman. Right now, the condition three Law Enforcement are dead. Three others have been wounded. Two are in stable condition with nonlifethreatening injuries. One is an east baton rouge sheriffs deputy who is in Critical Condition and fighting for his life. A lot to process, but again the headline for people in baton rouge, according to the state police, theres no active shooter scenario in baton rouge. Earlier on, they said there was some concern there might be other shooters or other suspects who were involved in this incident on the loose. They believe that the shooter who engaged with police, the only shooter was killed by police. Im joined by art roderick, former assistant director for the u. S. Marshals service also here with bob reed, also a cnn Law Enforcement analyst. Art, the pieces are coming in slowly into focus. It is still very much an active investigation, though. Yeah, it always amazes me that this damage with three officers killed, three wounded, all happened in the span of seven to eight minutes. Right. It just amazes me. Thats a long seven and eight minutes for those officers on the scene. And obviously with three dead, its absolutely horrendous. It was nice to hear that we h some solid information that came out. Now the question is were there others that possibly assisted him prior in the planning stations. Did they supply the weapon . Did they supply ammunition . We got information that he had a phone with him at the time. Law enforcements looking through that to see who he had communications with it, but it is very odd that there are some reports that he was sitting by the baton Rouge Pamela Brown had a source saying that this person was seen in a vehicle outside or near the Police Headquarters. Then the shooting took place very close to the headquarters there. It is a strange set of circumstances here. Was this person intentionally trying to engage with police . Was that the objective . Was that the motive . Thats unclear. Right. Was he taking out the Police Department . What he was wearing, a long gun, raises a lot of questions. From what i followed there, outside the Convenience Store thats usually attended by Law Enforcement officers in fact there was a Law Enforcement officer inside at the time the first shots were maybe thats all going to start coming together, that this person was stalking them and was outside. This was said to be a store that was very popular with Law Enforcement officers. They went there not far from the headquarters. Also with me senior Law Enforcement analyst tom fuentes. We are four minutes away from anticipated remarks by president obama. Well obviously bring that to our viewers as well. Tom, from what you heard in the press conference, what stands out to you . I have to admit, anderson, to be kind of confused about when was the first shot fired. How did this thing get started . Were shots fired were before the Police Officers got there . Was it strictly when they arrived they were met with gunfire . There was a lot of details which admittedly well know more tomorrow at the 1 00 briefing, but i found it confusing to get a handle on what occurred when those officers arrived at the scene. Had there been shots fired already or not or did they arrive under a hail of gunfire . Right. Which one eyewitness that we spoke to at the top of the last hour claimed that there had been, but again its one eyewitness and unclear how reliable what he feels he saw or heard is, tom. We also know from the alton sterling incident that baton rouge officers carry body cams. In that incident, the body cams fell off, but you could see they were attached and came off. In this case as theyre driving up, they should have dash cams. Even if they dont have dash cams on the squads as theyre arriving at the scene, the officers still have front facing body cams. I know its probably gruesome because the officers that were killed probably have their own deaths recorded, but that should give the investigators a lot of information as to what exactly happened when they arrived at that scene. Also with me is retired lapd Police Department sergeant sheryl dorcy. All the officers involved have to be interviewed. How quickly does that whole process begin . That may vary from agency to agency. Whats going to happen with our men and women in blue uniform Going Forward . I think the way that we handle ourselves, which has been reactionary, based on what we have seen is now forever changed. I think the days of one man units and responding to high priority calls without the presence of an air unit is something thats going to have to be looked at carefully so our officers are safe daytoday when they respond to high priority calls and maybe even what we just like to call routine calls because theres no such thing anymore. When you say a high priority call, what would that entail . That would entail this call of a man with a gun. Youre going to go there with your antenna kind of high. This is a man with a gun call, so you want to be particularly careful. But im not sure anymore that a routine call, a dispute, a disturbance wouldnt be a situation where someone would want to ambush an officer. Great care has to be given now when officers respond to make sure that they have the resources so that they can put themselves in the best position advantageously to be safe when they end that encounter. Cedric alexander is also with us. I want to run through the timeline first. They say that at approximately 8 40 a. M. Eastern time officers responded to i should say local time. Officers responded to a call about a person carrying a weapon. Two minutes later at 8 42 a. M. , reports came in of shots fired. At 8 45 a. M. , more shots being fired. Another report of a suspect wearing all black clothing standing near a car wash near a Convenience Store came in at 8 46 a. M. At 8 48 a. M. , emergency ems units began arriving at the scene. It was sometime during that time frame that the shooter, who had killed the officers and wounded others, was himself shot and killed. So cedric, what do you make of what came out from the press conference . Well, those timelines that you see probably came straight out of their 911 center as they were called in. That really gives you somewhat of a picture of what occurred every two minutes. It appeared to be an event that took about six minutes. We dont know i agree with tom on this that there are some things that appear sketchy that are being deliberately left out and probably appropriately so because theyre still an active investigation going on. They probably are taking a look at some very gruesome footage thats taken from those video recorders on those officers who lost their lives and those that were injured. They have to be careful in terms not being able to give out too much information right now because it is still very early in this. This is a real very sensitive matter as well that probably will have been captured on some type of video. Which is a sickening thought for Law Enforcement to even have to look at that to see what happened to their fellow officer. Thats correct. Not only do you have the body cams, but my understanding is that this is a business area, so youve got all the businesses with surveillance cameras set up in that area. And Law Enforcement will be pulling those also. That could give them a very good view of this individual moving from the police station, getting out of his vehicle, and walking down the street. Im sure theyll have whole story put together. Were awaiting president obama to make live remarks about the shootings in baton rouge. I guess the main question remains and it bears repeating is what was the motive of the person. Was this to directly engage with Police Officers . Was that the motive of this person when he woke up this morning . Thats the key part. We have to figure out what his motive is because this could effect Law Enforcement across the country. If this is similar to an individual in dallas where you have one mentally disturbed person coming out and wants to engage Law Enforcement, that is opposed to what we thought earlier with a conspiracy involving two or three people. It seems to be narrowing it down now to possibly just one individual. And that, as horrible as it sounds, calms a lot of fears in the country. We heard from sheryl some of the ripple effects it could have. Do you agree with her in terms of how this may effect how Police Respond to even routine calls . I think thats exactly whats going to happen. Law enforcement goes back and reviews all their standard operating procedures, their policies, their guidelines to make sure this particular type of incident doesnt happen again. Unfortunately, a lot of times Law Enforcement is reactive as opposed to proactive, but we have to get to that part where were a little more proactive. Officers that are now one man cars now in two man cars. That affects the citizenry of the community where it takes longer to get to calls because you dont have the number of cars. Its always going to be serve and protect, but survival is getting up there. In terms of weaponry, does the average Police Officer have a long rifle in their vehicle that they can respond in kind to somebody like that . Some do. Some departments im familiar with they have one car thats equipped with s. W. A. T. Equipment thats on that shift. But for the officer thats under fire, that doesnt help if hes ten blocks away. Right. Time is of the essence. This went on for at the very least systome six minutes or so. I remember reading fbi studies of active shooter situations. Most People Killed by active shooters are killed within the first six minutes and oftentimes it takes several minutes for police to even get on the scene, but in this case they were there. Not only according to the state police was there somebody already in the Convenience Store, a Police Officer, but the headquarters was very close. Sounds like he engaged them right away. That six minutes is a long time. It sounds like thank goodness that Police Officer was in that Convenience Store, did see this, engaged him right away. We dont know exactly what officer was where when they were shot and killed. Law enforcement wants to look at that and figure out tactically is there something we can do better. We also had this eyewitness report of somebody already down when police got there. Again, i dont know how accurate that was or what this person actually saw. That doesnt fit into the narrative that the police have given out so far. We dont know who that person was. Exactly. We are waiting. President obama expected to make statements. He already had put out a statement earlier this afternoon responding to the shootings. The condition of the three wounded officers in baton rouge, two of them are in stable condition thankfully with nonlifethreatening injuries. But one of the sheriffs deputies, the east baton rouge sheriffs deputies, is in Critical Condition and fighting for his life. Sheryl, the lapd i remember there was a shootout. I dont even recall the year. This is just coming from my memory. A heavy armed individual was sort of in makeshift Tactical Gear and he engaged in a shootout with police in l. A. Who were heavy outgunned by this person. That changed the tactics and the weaponry that the lapd began to use or began to routinely carry. Didnt it . Yeah, that was at North Hollywood. That w i was actually assigned to North Hollywood division when that occurred. We have to follow certain guidelines and procedures. Were only allowed to carry those of us in uniform in a black and white a certain type of weapon. Certainly in my time, i went from a 38 revolver to a 9 millimeter. I think theyre carrying something much different now. Much like in that North Hollywood shootout, we were outgunned. We had officers who commandeered a gun shop and thankfully the owner was amenable to some of our officers arming themselves with automatic rifles so we could just at least have a level playing field. You know, i dont know whats going to happen, but this is not good, anderson. Its important that our officers are mindful right now. For real for real, you are at a disadvantage. Wear your uniform issued bulletproof vest. I see officers throwing them on at the last minute when they get in an tactical situation. In an emergency, thats not the time. We have to be safe and mindful so we can get home to our families at the end of the evening. Cedric alexander, no active shooter situation ongoing right now in baton rouge, which is a relief to a lot of the residents in baton rouge because earlier police said there may be other armed suspects who were out there. Theyre saying right now they dont believe that is the case, that the person who shot and killed the Police Officer was himself shot and killed, but that doesnt mean there arent concentric circles of people who knew what this person was planning, perhaps helped plan with this person or in some way aided and abetted this person. Exaabsolutely, anderson, and thats going to be part of the continuing investigation. The good news is the lone gunman has been put down. Still what we dont know is who may have been involved with them in the planning, in the execution, of this horrific event. But theyll get to the bottom of that im quite sure here pretty soon once they identify him, identify who his contacts are, identify his relationship in that community or wherever he may have come from. I think well find that out here pretty soon. Cedric, because they believe or tom fuentes, because they know the gunman himself was shot and killed, its only a matter of time before they can identify that person and thats when the investigation actually kind of gathers speed. True. Im sorry. Is that for me . Tom, go ahead. A point id like to make, anderson, is they make it clear he may have been the only shooter on the street, but theyre looking into whether others assisted him or are coconspirators. When they get the information off his computer or go to other residents or neighbors, theres nothing to say now that those other suspects might be lying in wake to ambush the police when they come knocking on their door. This is still the continuing investigation and the continuing of going to interview other people that may be involved. Every one of those interviews is going to be a very dangerous situation for the police. They dont know who else is out there that may be lying in wait for them to show up and knock on their door. And tom, in a situation like this, is the fbi do they have a role in this . Absolutely. All the Law Enforcement agencies are out there. In the beginning, they dont know if it is domestic terror or some other type of crime, but they all know they need to work together. The fbi has a large office in baton rouge. I learned they were there immediately assisting the police. Also often provide a great deal of forensic assistance with the evidence response teams, but also the atf, the marshals, the dea, everybody lends a hand. As the chief mentioned, baton rouge has been depleted because of all the extra work theyve had the last week and a half of trying to cover protests and other situations. They need all the help they can get just to put officers on the street. Cedric alexander, in terms of the investigation, what are the main questions that police are looking at now . If you were in this investigation, what would you want answers to . You want to identify the shooter and you want to try to determine what that motive may have been. Thats going to be gathered certainly through his associations and any other technical evidence theyre able to come up with, but thats the first and foremost thing in terms of this investigation, anderson, is who was this shooter. Thats going to tell us a lot about his history and who has he been associated with and doing search warrants at his residence or wherever he may reside to his vehicle. Thats going to reveal a lot of information, and thats going to take a little time. Again, we are waiting for president obama. Any moment now. He was to have spoken at 4 30. You see that on the side of your screen. Were waiting for his comments. His statement earlier expressed suppor support for those who lost their lives and those in the hospital. Three wounded officers, thankfully two of them do not have lifethreatening injuries. The third officer, an east baton rouge sheriffs deputy, is said to be in Critical Condition right now. Also the state Police Wanted to emphasize this is very much an Ongoing Investigation. Multiple agencies are involved with multiple moving parts. Pamela brown is also joining us now. What are you learning . Before the press conference, we got a report from you about a possible sighti ining of this gunman. Thats right. According to the preliminary information, there was a sighting of him in the car in the all black and with the long gun. Then the 911 call of a person walking down the road wearing black with the long gun. Law enforcement is now trying to figure out who hes been in contact with and who else may be involved. So you have learned theres a potential id. There is a potential id. We know theyve been up on his cell phone trying to figure out who else hes been talking to, whether theres a bigger conspiracy at play here. In the wake of what we saw in dallas there was an increase in chatter amongst domestic terror groups wanting to do something to police. We have no idea if that relates to this situation because the big question is were Police Responding to Something Else, another crime taking place, or was this a police ambush. I will mention one scenario officials are looking into right now is whether someone called 911 to lure police. They get police to one place and launch an attack. There was chatter about that. There were some arrests made in hollywood, florida. I have also learned through my sources that there was a Police Officer in a little coffee shop right next to where the shooting happened. About ten minutes before, his relatives said he was in that coffee shop. The question is did he engage the shooter initially and then did the police arrive. Theyre still trying to fill in those gaps, anderson. The idea this could have been potentially a 911 call to lure somebody in, i mean that does have ramifications for police all around the country. Of all the 911 calls coming in, if you are second guessing the validity of these 911 calls, thats a huge concern. Absolutely. I have been speaking to Law Enforcement officials across the country today. Every one of them said this is scary. This is a dangerous time. Law enforcements job is to go in and protect the community, but who is going to protect us now . There is this feeling among Law Enforcement it is open season against them. We dont know the context around the shooting, but it certainly raises that concern. Since were here in cleveland, the talk is about how do you protect police and people. You have the open carry law, which does raise concern among Law Enforcement that there could be people with nefarious conditions mixing in with protesters. You mentioned the cell phone, that police may already be up on the cell phone of this shooter. Was the cell phone recovered at the scene . I dont know those specific details. As we just heard cedric say, the first thing they want to do is identify this shooter, see who else theyve been in contact with. That was something they did very early on. We dont know if it was on the shooter or if they found it elsewhere. Tom fuentes, this idea of second guessing 911 calls, the ripple effects could be dramatic for forces around the country. When i went through Police Academy training in 1973, they talked about situations where thats exactly what happened. A call went in, whether it was a family disturbance or suspicious suspect. When the officers arrived, they were ambushed. It havent heard about it for a while and all of a sudden its coming up as a new technique, but its not new. Its happening more recently in greater numbers than it used to. President obama, expecting his remarks very shortly. Any time now. Gloria borger is also joining us. I think back to just last week in dallas. President obama saying, look, ive had to do this too many times. Here he is yet again speaking in the wake of a horrific shooting of Police Officers. Hes had to do this 15 times since 2009. Some sort of mass shooting. Some sort of mass shooting. First i believe was ft. Hood. This is a president who is sick over this honestly. Whether its gun control he keeps talking about or whether its isis or whatever it is that inspires any of these people, i think this is a president who doesnt want this to be his legacy when he leaves office, to have this kind of unrest and this kind of outrage, whatever sparks any of this. And i think what you heard from the president in his statement was his talk about the rule of law and about Civilized Society and that these attacks have to speak because theyre conducted by cowards, but these are words that we have heard from him. And every time i see him do Something Like this, you can just well see in a few minutes. You can see the anguish in his face having to preside over these kinds of things. Did you want to Say Something . We had mentioned earlier, anderson, there was a possible id of the suspect that was down. We have now learned Baton Rouge Police shooter has been identified as 29yearold gavin long. This is according to two Law Enforcement sources. He was born, the sources say, on july 17th, 1987. Fairly young named gavin long. Of course, right now were trying to figure out where hes from, what his connection is, why he was in that area. But this is coming from my colleague and evan perez as well. Gavin long, 29 years old, was the shooter. They have an id. Its just a matter of time now before they go to his home. They go to his circle of people to try to find out more. Yeah, absolutely. That is really what theyre doing now as we speak. We know they have interviewed relatives of some of the Police Officers who were involved and theyre also going to interview those who knew this gunman. We talked about, anderson, you dont like naming the gunman because they do things just to get attention. Was this somebody who witnessed what happened in dallas and thought in some sick way he wanted to do a similar thing . As i mentioned earlier, in the wake of dallas Law Enforcement picked up an increase in chatter from these hate groups saying we want to do something similar. Maybe we can call 911 and lure cops in this way. Theyre certainly on edge. Certainly Law Enforcement knew there was a possibility to be a copy cat attack. The motive here is still very much unclear. Were still trying to figure out if there was more than one shooter. That is still murky for Law Enforcement officials. The governor did talk about suspects, plural, potential suspects plural, and yet they have come out and said there is no active shooter situation. That was my first question. The person who shot and killed Police Officers was himself shot and killed, which seems to indicate there were not other people armed and shooting at police. Or it could have been people who figured out gave them a car or accomplices in some way, but not involved in the shooting. The initial thinking is there is more than one shooter. Police move forward as if there is more than one shooter, but it typically ends up being one shooter. A lot of it is contradictory eyewitnesses. Some confuse police in Tactical Gear with the shooter wearing all black. Oftentimes you have reports early on, the initial reports, of multiple shooters. In dallas there were those early reports of shooters triangulating, but it was one shooter using a tactic he had practiced. He wants to determine exactly what they know, the president , because before he addressed the American People of course, we know part of what hes going to say, but he wants to have as much information as he can because the president of the United States should be the last person to jump to conclusions about anything. You can be sure he was in contact with Law Enforcement as we were told immediately. But theres a need, i would say, to talk to the American Public at a time like this because we are getting all different kinds of information, and its scary to people. What a president does at this time is try to calm people down and say, wait a minute, okay, take a breath. Lets mourn and lets figure this out. Law Enforcement Analyst Cedric Alexander is also with us as await president obamas comments. There are multiple agencies involved in this Ongoing Investigation. How confusing is it in a situation like this to have all these different agencies working how is that all sorted out, who does what . That may sound complex, anderson, but the reality of is it we have been working together a lot of years across this country, particularly in the climate we are in now post9 11. This is not new to us. We all have very specific rules. We have all coordinated and planned for events that we often see today, so its not unusual. It may sound like it, even though there are a number and a variety of federal, state, and local agencies involved, but everybody is very respectful of each other. Everyone shares information, and everyone understands the importance of working together so that the bad guys are caught and the Community Remains safe because for all of us it is about Public Safety and making sure we protect that respected community and support each other during the investigation. Pamela brown, youre getting some more information. Is that right . It just registered as i was reading on air the gunmans name that its his birthday today. The shootout happened on his birthday. It does raise questions a little bit about whether this was just a spur of the moment crime that was being committed or if this was something he wanted to do to go down in flames on his birthday. There is a bit of confusion because there are so many Law Enforcement officials involved with the different agencies. It can be a game of telephone. Athena, we expected president obama to speak about 25 minutes ago. Any word on when hes going to speak . No, anderson. Well believe hell be coming out any minute now. He was scheduled to speak several minutes ago. Hes likely still coming up with the right words to say. We have heard the president say over and over again, but certainly during the Memorial Service in dallas that words are not enough. Action is needed to deal with the tension thats going on in these communities. I think hes well aware coming out today that hes going to talk about to support the police. Hes going to condemn the attack as hes already done in a paperwork statement and as he had to do a couple weeks ago in dallas. This is becoming all routine of him having to come out and play the role of comforter in chief. He said in a statement put out today we dont know the motives for this attack, but there is no justification for violence against Law Enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. I suspect when he comes out to deliver what we expect to be brief remarks, maybe five minutes, ten minutes, hell talk about the need to make sure justice is done, to make sure this crime is investigated, to offer support for police, and to come together. The president has been trying to argue that america is not as divided as a lot of these recent events would suggest. But for a lot of people those words dont sound when you wake up on a sunday morning. Maybe some people heading to church and you see this news. He has to strike a balance as he comes out today to offer support for police and offer words of comfort. All as were still waiting to find out just went down in baton rouge. More details to come no doubt. We await president obama. Well bring you his remarks live. Were going to take a short break. Our coverage continues. I found her wandering miles from home. When the phone rang at 5am, i knew it was about mom. I see how hard its been on her at work and i want to help. For the 5 million americans living with alzheimers, and millions more who feel its effects. Lets walk together to make an even bigger impact and end alzheimers for good. Find your walk near you at alz. Org walk. Happening now, were following breaking news out of baton rouge, louisiana. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer and youre in the situation room. Were live here in cleveland on the eve of the Republican National convention. Were waiting to hear from the president of the United States any minute now on the deadly Baton Rouge Police shooting. Were learning from our sources that the Baton Rouge Police shooter has now been identified as gavin long, a 29yearold who shot three Police Officers dead, three other Police Officers are wounded. One of the wounded is in Critical Condition right now fighting for his life. [ gunshots ] sir sir this was the scene. You can hear the heavy gunfire. A civilian recorded this video this morning of the shootout about a mile from Police Headquarters. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office says the gunman is dead and was shot and killed on the scene. There is no active shooting situation under way. Thats what they just said. State and local authorities just wrapped up a News Conference moments ago laying out the timeline. At approximately 8 40 a. M. , baton rouge pd officers at a Convenience Store observed the individual. He was wearing all black
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