Three officers are dead and three others wounded after a shooting less than a mile from Baton Rouge police headquarters Sunday.
The two city police officers killed were identified Sunday evening: Officer Montrell Jackson and Officer Matthew Gerald. Brad Garafola, a 45-year-old East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputy was also killed.
Five officers were rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Ashley Mendoza said.
Of the two who survived the shooting, one was in critical condition and the other was in fair condition. One officer was sent to Baton Rouge General Medical Center and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, spokeswoman Meghan Parrish said. Two of the injured deputies are identified as Nicholas Tullier, 41; Bruce Simmons, 51.
>>Read more about the attack on Baton Rouge police
Although police did not reveal the names of the victims in an afternoon news conference, Jackson's cousin, Josh, confirmed his identity on Twitter.
Jackson, 32, recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary with Baton Rouge police. He was a father to a four-month-old son Mason, according to The Advocate.
His family was mourning his loss and called him a man of "God, family and the police force."
Jackson was injured while saving a toddler from a burning apartment building in 2007, according to The Advocate.
Jackson wrote a heartfelt post on Facebook July 8 in the wake of violence in Baton Rouge and other parts of the country.
"I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me," Jackson wrote. "In uniform I get nasty, hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat."
Another victim was Matthew Gerald, 41, of Denham Springs, according to CBS News. Gerald, a former Marine and Black Hawk crew chief in the Army, graduated from the Baton Rouge police academy in March.
Garafola had been with the sheriff's office more than 24 years. He was finishing his last shift, he had plans to go on vacation Monday, according to The Advocate.
Garafola was married with four children. He was a jack-of -all trades who liked helping others, his wife Tonja told The Advocate.
"Everybody on this street depended on him," she said. "He loved staying outside and fixing things. Besides the sheriff's office, that was his passion."