SWAT shooter made a quick decision.
Via KRTV:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said Monday that the attack that killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others showed why militarized police tactics are needed.
In the last two weeks, police have been up against skilled gunmen in Dallas and Baton Rouge and taken casualties.
On Sunday, the Baton Rouge SWAT team's training kicked in and the team performed flawlessly in responding to an ambush on officers, an emotional Dabadie said at a press conference.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said he was "convinced" that if the SWAT team had not arrived when it did, there would have been more casualties and the gunman would have escaped to continue his attack on police.
A SWAT team rifleman took out the gunman from more than 100 yards without a clear line of sight, Dabadie said.
"That shot our SWAT team made was a helluva shot," Dabadie said. "We've been questioned for the last two weeks about our militarized tactics and our militarized law enforcement. This is why."
"This guy was going to another location. He was not going to stop here," Dabadie told reporters. "He was going to take more lives."
Col. Michael D. Edmonson, superintendent of Louisiana State Police, said the gunman, Gavin Long, a former Marine from Kansas City, Missouri, was skilled in his handling of the assault rifle and moved skillfully to repeatedly ambush officers. Surveillance video captured the calculated attack and showed a scene that was "chilling in the sheer brutality," Edmonson said.
"There is no doubt whatsoever that these officers were targeted and assassinated," he said.