Louisiana vigils mourn officers; funerals set

Matthew Ward, an employee with the Baton Rouge sheriff’s office who knew slain Deputy Brad Garafola, visits a makeshift memorial Tuesday for the officers who were killed and wounded in Sunday’s shooting in Baton Rouge.
Matthew Ward, an employee with the Baton Rouge sheriff’s office who knew slain Deputy Brad Garafola, visits a makeshift memorial Tuesday for the officers who were killed and wounded in Sunday’s shooting in Baton Rouge.

BATON ROUGE -- Shocked residents gathered in churches and at community vigils to pray for the law enforcement community and the three officers who were slain in an ambush by a gunman.

Families with children, drivers passing through and law enforcement officers from outside the area have been laying flowers and balloons or hanging crosses at a makeshift memorial in front of the B-Quick convenience store near where the officers were killed Sunday.

In an open letter to the nation's law enforcement officers, President Barack Obama said the nation will get through the recent killings of police officers with the "love and empathy of public servants" like the ones who were targeted in recent days.

The White House released the letter Tuesday. It was dated Monday, the day after the officers were killed.

The president wrote that the nation collectively mourns the deaths of three Baton Rouge officers on Sunday -- Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola -- and must not allow those kinds of violent acts to turn Americans against one another.

"Officer Jackson knew this too, when just days ago he asked us to keep hatred from our hearts. Instead, he offered -- to protesters and fellow police officers alike -- a hug to anyone who saw him on the street," he wrote. "He offered himself as a fellow worshipper to anyone who sought to pray. Today, we offer our comfort and our prayers to his family, to the Geralds and the Garafolas, and to the tight-knit Baton Rouge law enforcement community."

Obama has said nothing justifies attacks on law enforcement officers, a sentiment he reiterated in the two-page letter.

"We will get through this difficult time together," Obama wrote. "We will do it with the love and empathy of public servants like those we have lost in recent days. ... We will do it with the grace of loved ones who even in their grief have spoken out against vengeance toward police. We will do it with the good will of activists like those I have sat with in recent days, who have pledged to work together to reduce violence even as they voice their disappointments and fears.

"Thank you for your courageous service. We have your backs," Obama said.

The Fraternal Order of Police posted the president's letter on its social media sites.

Chuck Canterbury, the group's president, welcomed Obama's letter and said law enforcement cannot be held responsible for such issues as poverty, unemployment or lack of mental health services, a point the president touched on in the letter.

"The work now is to assist our communities by continuing to recognize that we are but one spoke in the wheel and we will do our part," Canterbury said. "Now it's time for politicians and government to assist us in working in the communities we have always worked in to make life better for all Americans."

Obama telephoned the families of the Baton Rouge officers on Monday to offer his and the first lady's condolences.

Funeral arrangements for two of the officers have been made public: Jackson, a 10-year police force veteran with a newborn at home, will be laid to rest Monday. Visitation for Gerald, an Iraq war veteran who became a Baton Rouge police officer less than a year ago, will be Thursday and Friday. Funeral services will be Friday.

Arrangements for 45-year-old Garafola, an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy and a father of four, have not been made public.

The three are among 10 law enforcement officers killed over a span of 10 turbulent days around the country by attackers -- at a protest march in Dallas, a courthouse in Michigan and now a convenience store in Baton Rouge.

The officers lived in the area of Denham Springs, a quiet bedroom community across the Amite River from Baton Rouge, which has been in turmoil for two weeks. Tensions rose sharply after the death of Alton Sterling, 37, a black man killed by white Baton Rouge officers after a scuffle at a convenience store. The killing was captured on cellphone video.

Gavin Long, a former Marine from Missouri dressed in black and carrying extra ammunition, opened fire on officers about 8:45 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Garafola and Gerald were white. Jackson was black, as was the gunman. Three other officers were wounded. One of them, Deputy Nicholas Tullier, was in critical condition. The gunman was killed at the scene.

"The world is crazy right now. It is complete chaos," Jackson's sister-in-law Lauren Rose said. "And it all needs to stop, everything. We all need peace."

Gerald was a Marine from 1994 to 1998. He later joined the Army and served as a decorated soldier from 2002 to 2009, including three tours in Iraq. He will be buried at the Louisiana National Cemetery for veterans.

Ryan Cabral served with Gerald on a helicopter crew in Iraq.

"Like most other police officers, they go where they're needed," said Cabral, an Army veteran and police officer in Temple, Texas. "They know what the dangers are, but that's how they're made. They're made to serve."

Jackson's father-in-law, Lonnie Jordan, called him a "gentle giant" -- tall and stout and formidable-looking, but with a peaceful disposition. Jordan said his son-in-law had been working long hours since Sterling was killed.

Garafola's friends described him as a man committed to public service and devoted to his family.

Sgt. Gerald Parker, a close friend, described him as a "jack of all trades" who enjoyed helping people in his neighborhood in ways like mending their fences or mowing their lawns.

"All these officers are heroes. Some people would run. But these gentlemen leave their families knowing something can happen," Parker said.

Information for this article was contributed by Kevin McGill, Cain Burdeau, Randy Herschaft and Darlene Superville of The Associated Press and by Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post.

A Section on 07/20/2016

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