BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A former Marine dressed in black and carrying extra ammunition set out to ambush police in Baton Rouge, authorities said Monday, a day after three law enforcement officers were killed in the attack.
The gunman's "movements, his direction, his attention was on police officers," state police Col. Mike Edmonson said. He would not elaborate but said the shooter was definitely "seeking out" police.
Three other officers were wounded Sunday, one critically. The gunman was identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri, who was black. He turned 29 on the day of the ambush and was killed in a gunbattle with police.
In online posts, a man using an alias of Long's said protests alone do not work, and people must fight back after the deaths of black men at the hands of police.
Documents show Long sought to change his name last year to Cosmo Setepenra. A website using that name links to online books about nutrition, self-awareness and empowerment. The man describes himself as a "freedom strategist, mental game coach, nutritionist, author and spiritual advisor."
In a video posted July 10, the person making the post said he's speaking from Dallas after five police officers were fatally shot there during a protest of the deaths of black men in encounters with law enforcement. The man also discusses protests in Baton Rouge and what he perceived as oppression.
He said: "You've got to fight back. That's the only way a bully knows to quit." In an earlier video, the man said if anything ever happens to him, he doesn't want to be linked to any groups and mentioned once belonging to Nation of Islam.
In documents seeking the name change, Long also referred to himself as a member of a black separatist group known as the Washitaw Nation.
The attack unfolded less than two weeks after Baton Rouge police fatally shot a black man in a confrontation that reverberated nationwide.
The shooting less than a mile from police headquarters added to the tensions across the country between the black community and police. It was the fourth high-profile deadly encounter in the United States involving police over the past two weeks. In all, the violence has cost the lives of eight officers, including those in Baton Rouge, and two civilians and sparked a national debate over race and policing.
Long served in the Marines from 2005 to 2010, reaching the rank of sergeant. He deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009, according to military records.
While in the military, Long was awarded several medals, including one for good conduct, and received an honorable discharge. His occupational expertise was listed as "data network specialist."
Although he was believed to be the only person who fired at officers, authorities were investigating whether he had any help.
Long attended classes at the University of Alabama for one semester in the spring of 2012. A school spokesman said university police had no interactions with him.
Long sought to change his name last year in a document filed in May 2015 with the recorder of deeds in Jackson County, Missouri. He also said he was a member of the Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah, or the Washitaw Nation.
The group describes itself as a sovereign nation composed of blacks descended from ancestors who settled in North American before Columbus, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Of the officers who survived the shooting, one was released from the hospital Monday. Two others remained hospitalized, one in critical condition.
Two of the slain officers were from the Baton Rouge Police Department: 32-year-old Montrell Jackson, who had been on the force for a decade, and 41-year-old Matthew Gerald, who had been there for less than a year.
The third fatality was Brad Garafola, 45, and a 24-year veteran of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.
All three of the slain officers lived in Denham Springs.