Gunman stood over officer and fired multiple times, affidavit says as second shot Baton Rouge officer fights for his life
WBRZ
April 26, 2020
BATON ROUGE – A police officer was killed in a Sunday afternoon shooting and a second officer was gravely injured during the same incident.
Police say the gunman responsible also killed at least one other person earlier that day during a domestic dispute.
The two officers were shot after responding to reports of gunfire and encountering the gunman on Conrad Drive, near the corner of Winbourne Avenue and N. Foster. The officers were shot around 12:30 Sunday afternoon.
According to official police documents 36-year-old Ronnie Kato, a man with a history of making threats against the police, has been identified as the shooter.
An affidavit report says after fatally shooting one of the officers, Kato stood over the deceased officer's body and continued to shoot him multiple times with an assault-style rifle.
Authorities say Kato's actions corresponded with earlier threats he'd made against officers of the law.
According to official documents, in 2017, Kato's girlfriend told authorities he'd threatened to "Gavin Long" any police officers who she called, a reference the man who shot and killed three officers in an ambush on Airline Highway in July 2016.
Police spent four hours in a standoff with Kato at the Conrad Drive home.
Earlier in the day, Kato had used the same assault-style rifle during a deadly domestic violence-related encounter on North Pamela Drive that left 58-year-old Curtis Richardson dead.
It was hours after this incident that the two officers encountered the gunman and were shot on Conrad Drive.
At a news conference Sunday evening, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said a 21-year police veteran died in the shooting. A seven-year police veteran was shot and was “fighting for his life,” the chief said.
The chief did not identify the officers. Baton Rouge Police will handle the investigation going forward.
Around 4 p.m. Sunday, reporters gathered near where the standoff was unfolding heard noises that sound like heavy gunfire. Police were in the area, attempting to coax the suspect from the house. Video captured by a WBRZ live camera at the scene recorded video where the sounds are heard lasting about 3 seconds.
Kato was later taken into custody.
Police from various area law enforcement agencies set up a motorcade for the body of the officer killed. There was a large procession leaving the hospital, a respectful memorial to officers killed in the line of duty.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As I've said many times before, back in my time there would be no sweet talking to a cop killer. He would be ordered one or two times to surrender and failing to do so, the sorry piece of shit would have been shot multiple times.
2 comments:
No mandatory video cameras being worn by the police or phone cameras zooming in on the action. Back in my time (as you say) it was hard to strap a Kodak Brownie on your chest. Policing was a much different animal. Thank you for your service.
The presence of the news cameras might have had some mitigating effect. Unfortunately.
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