Three police officers were killed and three others wounded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after a resident from Missouri opened fire on them on Sunday. The incident reportedly came around a fortnight after the death of an African-American at the hands of local police. The policemen who were shot on Sunday were Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola. The assailant – identified as Gavin Long from Kansas City – was shot dead in the gunfight that ensued. The African-American shooter was an ex-Marine, CNN reported.

The ambush in Baton Rouge comes about a week after five police officers were killed in Dallas, Texas, as anti-police brutality protests turned violent. Snipers had opened fire at security forces stationed at the site of the agitation, believed to be the single-largest attack on law enforcement authorities in the United States. The rally was being held in protest against policemen fatally shooting two African-American men – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – in two separate incidents that took place in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Following the shooting in Baton Rouge, President Barack Obama said, "Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible." Speaking on the eve of the Republican convention, where Donald Trump will officially accept his presidential nomination for the party, he also emphasised on the need to avoid "inflammatory rhetoric" and making "accusations" for political gains, The Associated Press reported. The motive behind the shooting is still unknown.