It has been established that a man identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City who went on a shooting rampage on his 29th birthday that left three police officers dead was an ex-marine.
Long, who was African-American, was a former Marine who spent time in Iraq and was discharged at the rank of sergeant in 2010, according to the U.S. military. He killed two police officers and a sheriff’s deputy.
The murder weapon was an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, law enforcement sources told CNN.
Police have not officially released the names of the victims but one was identified by family members as Officer Montrell Jackson. Law officers Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola were also killed, according to sources close to the department.
That was corroborated with social media posts.
The gunman also critically wounded a deputy who is “fighting for his life,” said East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. Another wounded deputy and police officer have non-life-threatening wounds, law officers said.
Long was a prolific user of social media, with dozens of videos, podcasts, tweets and posts under his pseudonym Cosmo Setepenra. Under that name, Long also tweeted a link to a news story about Dallas shooter Micah Johnson and said the shooter was “one of us! # MY Religion is Justice.”
A law enforcement source said Long “was not alone during his stay in Baton Rouge,” but it’s unclear if others he was with knew about or were actively involved in any plot.
Two law enforcement sources tell CNN that Long rented a car in Kansas City after the Dallas shootings and drove it to Baton Rouge. Given that Long posted a YouTube video from Dallas on July 10, it is likely he drove to Baton Rouge via Dallas.
– CNN
