On July 17, 2016, Gavin Eugene Long shot six police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, in an ambush attack, in the wake of the killing of Alton Sterling. Four died, including one who was critically wounded and died from complications in 2022, and two others were hospitalized; of the officers who initially died, two were members of the Baton Rouge Police Department, while the third worked for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Long, who associated himself with organizations linked to black separatism and the sovereign citizen movement, was shot and killed by a SWAT officer during a shootout with police at the scene.
Background The shooting occurred during a period of unrest in Baton Rouge, though it is unclear if the events are related. Baton Rouge was experiencing ongoing protests following the officer-involved killing of Alton Sterling less than two weeks before on July 5. On July 7, the FBI's New Orleans field office issued a warning about "threats to law enforcement and potential threats to the safety of the general public" stemming from the death of Sterling. Within the previous week, four suspects were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill Baton Rouge police officers, which was described as a credible threat by law enforcement officials. Ten days earlier, five police officers were killed in a mass shooting in Dallas.
Attack
Long arrived at Hammond Aire Plaza, a shopping complex on Airline Highway, sometime before 8:40 a.m. CT and began scouting the area in search of police officers. He first spotted a police patrol vehicle parked at a B-Quik convenience store; it belonged to a sheriff's deputy who was working security in the area. Long parked his vehicle behind an adjacent building, got out, and prepared to shoot, but found that the vehicle was empty. He then drove north and noticed a police officer washing his vehicle a short distance away, but the officer left before Long could get close.
By 8:40a.m., police received a call about a suspicious person carrying a rifle near the plaza. However, due to Louisiana's open carry law at the time, the potential threat of Long was downplayed, with one dispatcher describing him as a "subject walking with a coat and an assault rifle." Authorities were going to question him and had no probable cause to take him into custody.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Long clad in black and wearing a face mask behind the Hair Crown Beauty Supply store on the 9600 block of Airline Highway. Shots were reportedly fired two minutes later. Another two minutes afterwards, there were reports that officers were down.
According to investigators, Long fired upon the first responding officers, fatally wounding three. He first shot and killed a police officer, and shot and wounded his partner who fell to the ground. A third officer tried to help the wounded policeman, but Long engaged him in a gunfight as he approached, and killed him with multiple gunshot wounds. Long then shot the first wounded officer twice more, killing him as well. Long then turned around and shot another police officer standing outside a store and then moved to another part of the complex, where he shot and wounded two sheriff's deputies who were investigating his car. At 8:46a.m., he was reported to be near Benny's Car Wash. Officers fired on Long from behind the cover of patrol cars. Eventually, a SWAT team responded to the scene; one member took aim at Long from about away and killed him at about 8:48a.m. Louisiana State Police said Long was the only person involved in the shooting. The entire shooting lasted for less than ten minutes.
During the gunfight, the assailant discharged his weapons a total of 43 times, meanwhile the police discharged a combined total of 106 rounds, 45 of which struck the assailant.
Officers used a robot to check Long's body for explosives. A preliminary investigation determined that Long was targeting officers and ignoring civilians. A preliminary autopsy indicated that in addition to being shot by the SWAT officer, Long suffered multiple other gunshot wounds. The autopsy also found traces of crystal meth and a low level of alcohol in his system.
Police recovered from the crime scene an IWI Tavor SAR 5.56x45-caliber semi-automatic rifle and a Springfield Armory XD 9mm pistol. A third weapon—a M4-type 5.56-caliber semi-automatic rifle from Stag Arms—was recovered from Long's rental Malibu. Officials believed Long had intentions of attacking the Baton Rouge police headquarters and continuing to kill officers.
Victims Two Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) officers and one East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy were killed in the shooting, while three others, a police officer and two sheriff's deputies were injured. Police Officer Chad Montgomery was grazed by a single bullet in the head, Sheriff's Deputy Cpl. Nicholas Tullier was shot and wounded three times in the head, abdomen and upper arm and Sgt. Bruce Simmons was hit once in the left arm. The injured were transported to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which said it received five patients from the shooting, three of whom later died from multiple gunshot wounds. Of the surviving two, one was in critical condition, being on life support as of August 3, and the other in fair condition. The third injured officer was transported to Baton Rouge General Medical Center and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The critically injured officer was moved to TIRR Memorial Hermann, a recovery facility in Houston, Texas, on November 16.
The officers killed were identified as: Deputy Bradford Allen 'Brad' Garafola, 45, who had been with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office since 1992. Officer Matthew Lane Gerald, 41, a Marine who had been with the BRPD for four months. Corporal Montrell Lyle Jackson, 32, who had been with the BRPD since 2006. Sergeant Nicholas Tullier, 46, succumbed to his injuries on May 5, 2022, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.
Perpetrator
Gavin Eugene Long (July 17, 1987 – July 17, 2016) was identified as the shooter. He was a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. In May 2015, Long filed papers in Jackson County, Missouri, to change his legal name to Cosmo Ausar Setepenra, but court officials there said he never completed the process of legally changing his name. Long was believed to have traveled more than from his hometown to Baton Rouge using a rental car. He was also believed to have been in Baton Rouge for "several days" prior to the shooting. Long committed the shooting on his 29th birthday.
Long's body was released to his family on July 26, and a funeral was planned in Arkansas for a later date.
Personal life Long grew up in Kansas City and graduated from high school in 2005. His parents divorced when he was eleven, and his father was neglectful of Long, according to court records. He failed to appear on scheduled visits with his son while the divorce was pending, and did not deliver birthday or Christmas presents to him. Court records described one instance where Long was picked up by his father, but dropped off at a day care facility at a casino shortly after.
Long served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a data network specialist from August 22, 2005, to August 1, 2010. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. During his military service, he was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009. He was also assigned to units in San Diego, California, and Okinawa, Japan. Long was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, along with an Iraq Campaign Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Navy Unit Commendation, and others.
Following his military service, Long told relatives and friends that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He reportedly had prescriptions for Ativan and Valium, both anti-anxiety drugs; Lunesta, a sleep aid; and citalopram, an antidepressant. Health records from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reportedly indicated contacts with Long from 2008 to August 2013. The VA records said that Long told doctors that he contracted PTSD after a friend showed him photos of maimed and decapitated bodies while they were in Iraq. In November 2011, doctors contradicted Long's suspicions of PTSD and instead diagnosed him as having "adjustment disorder with depressed mood." They eventually concluded that he was mentally stable, with no evidence that he was a threat to himself or others. According to Long's mother, the VA then sent him a letter denying him further treatment on the grounds that his disorder was not related to his military service. Long's mental health and related combat experience may have been a factor leading to the shooting.
Long graduated from Central Texas College, attending the college's San Diego site at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and via an online education program from fall 2007 to summer 2011; he received an associate of arts degree in general studies. Long studied at Clark Atlanta University during the 2012–13 academic year. Long also spent one semester at the University of Alabama, in spring 2012, with his name making it to the Dean's List as a general business major. According to local court records, Long had no criminal record and was married for two years before the couple divorced.
Views and statements Long was identified as a "black separatist" by a law enforcement official. Dr. Michael Stone, a psychiatry professor, said that Long displayed hallmarks of a "disgruntled, paranoid loner", with a narcissistic and grandiose personality.
Social media posts indicated that he was an active member of the anti-government New Freedom Group. According to CNN, a card was found on Long's body, suggesting that he was a member of the Washitaw Nation, a group of African Americans associated with the sovereign citizen movement that originated in Richwood. In addition to changing his legal name, he claimed his nationality was "United Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah Mu'ur", and expressed his support for the Moorish Science Temple of America, another African American organization associated with the sovereign citizen movement. However, Long disavowed all prior associations in a recent video, saying, "Don't affiliate me with nothing. ... I'm affiliated with the spirit of justice."
In April 2015, while in West Africa, Long also became a member of a group dedicated to helping "Targeted Individuals" suffering from "remote brain experimentation, remote neural monitoring of an entire humans body." He asked to be put on the group's "buddy list", but he unexpectedly deactivated his account a month later. His mother said he once believed the Central Intelligence Agency was following him. He appeared as a guest on an online show discussing "Targeted Individuals", but downplayed his belief that he was being tracked, saying, "That's just a small aspect of me. It's not a complete picture of who I am." However, the show's host, who had frequent phone and email correspondence with Long, claimed that Long was adamant about being tracked during their communications.