East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome declared Friday "Fallen Heroes Day," marking the fourth anniversary of an attack on local law enforcement that killed three officers and wounded three others on Airline Highway.
Baton Rouge police officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy Brad Garafola lost their lives on the morning of July 17, 2016, when Gavin Long opened fire on law enforcement. The gunman had traveled to Baton Rouge after the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling a few weeks earlier, which ignited nationwide protests about police brutality.
First it was a plaster cast extending from shoulder to wrist. Now it's a removable plastic brace and compression sleeve.
"These public servants represented the best of our community," Broome said in a statement Friday morning. "We will forever remember the words of Officer Montrell Jackson: 'Don't let hate infect your heart.'"
Jackson wrote those words in a Facebook post that went viral shortly before his death. He was referencing the vitriol he saw in Baton Rouge following the Sterling shooting.
"I'm tired physically and emotionally," he wrote. "I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat."
The Baton Rouge Police Department said in a tweet Friday morning that Jackson's words still "hold true today during these trying times" — a moment of nationwide reckoning as cities across the country are forced to confront questions of race and policing following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement.
Broome said she wished to honor the memories of the fallen officers and "pray for those injured and forever changed by the tragedy."
Officers in the area were responding to reports of a man carrying a rifle along Airline Highway. Long opened fire on responding officers and was killed in the ensuing shootout.
From the moment the first reports came out until we began to learn more about the shooter and the three slain officers, a timeline of The Advo…
Sheriff's deputy Nick Tullier received critical injuries that almost took his life. He remains paralyzed and receives regular medical treatment at a hospital in Houston, where his family has relocated.
"Nick lived but lost his life that day," his father posted on Facebook early Friday morning, describing in detail how Tullier survived against all odds but gave up so much in the process: simple things like engaging in small talk, giving advice to his sons and enjoying a crawfish boil.
Bruce Simmons, another sheriff's deputy, and BRPD officer Chad Montgomery were also injured in the attack. Simmons received extensive injuries to his left arm and hand. Montgomery was grazed by a bullet but his injuries were relatively minor.
"Today, let's remember not just the sacrifice, but also the love that these men had for our community," East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux posted on Facebook. "Remember the love they had for one another. … East Baton Rouge Parish, we love you and it is our honor to protect and serve you."
Three years after her father was killed in the line of duty, 18-year-old Braley Garafola brought a special moment of peace to the families of …
