BATON ROUGE — A group of people, some identifying themselves as family members of Alton Sterling, gathered Sunday afternoon in a parking lot near the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge.
That's where Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was killed July 5 at the hands of two Baton Rouge police officers.
The family members, who declined to give their names, were discussing the deaths of three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers Sunday morning.
The officers were killed in what Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden called an ambush attack.
"Stop the violence," one family member said. "Bring justice to Alton Sterling. We send our love and prayers to the officers and their families. But we still demand justice for Alton Sterling."
Asked what can others do to help, they said, "Stand together and pray. That's all we can do."
Sunday's fatal police shooting was the latest in two weeks of turmoil that has thrust Baton Rouge into the national debate on policing and race relations.
Alton Sterling's death, along with the police shooting of a black man in Minnesota and the attack on police officers in Dallas, triggered protests in Baton Rouge and across the nation.
The Sterling shooting also prompted a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department.
About 200 protesters were arrested in Baton Rouge last week, and the ACLU of Louisiana on Wednesday filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Police Department and others for violating the First Amendment rights of demonstrators.
Around the city, residents were weighing the gravity of recent events.
"I think if you have sympathy for the death of Alton Sterling, you have sympathy for the deaths of the officers, as well," said Cleve Dunn Jr., a Baton Rouge businessman.
Dunn helped organize a march in downtown Baton Rouge last week.
"We ask for justice through the legal system," he said. "These actions don't create a safe environment for anybody. It puts police on high alert and doesn't help with encounters between police and black or brown people.
"Shooting police and killing police is not what we condone."
Jeffery Collins of Baton Rouge sat outside a Circle K convenience store near the site where the officers were shot Sunday, watching news media and police.
As a young black man in north Baton Rouge, he said, he's used to being harassed by police. But he's not used to black men being shot to death by police officers, he said.
"We just know to stay away or run out of the way," he said.
The Alton Sterling shooting, he said, shocked the community.
"A lot of people never thought it would happen down here. I think it's just the police. They have too much power. They think they can get away with it."
Lymarkus Jackson was sitting with Collins. He said police profile black men, not just in Baton Rouge.
"Not all cops are bad, but the majority abuse their authority," Jackson said. "A black man's life span is like this," he said, holding his fingers an inch apart.
Montisha Stokes of Milwaukee had been in New Orleans with friends on a road trip. She stopped Sunday evening at the Triple S Food Mart because she wanted to visit a place that will be part of history.
Lawuita Roby, also from Milwaukee, thinks tension must have been building and people snapped with the Sterling shooting.
Stephen Tatum, from Memphis, who is white, was with the two black women. He said he supports an end to violence on both sides.
"As a white person, we have to speak up, too," he said.
At Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center, where one officer remained in critical condition, officers carrying rifles were met with donations from Baton Rouge residents showing support.
During a news conference Sunday afternoon, officials said the wounded officer was "fighting for his life."
“I’m just in disbelief,” said resident Robert Higgins, who brought pizzas for on-duty officers. “I would assume that everyone is kind of in shock. Nobody understands it. My dad’s a federal agent and my sister is a sheriff in Houma. So in terms of law enforcement, I know how tight of a community it is.”
Those arriving at the hospital to donate blood Sunday afternoon at Our Lady of the Lake were redirected to an open facility nearby.
By 5 p.m., the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team arrived at the medical facility of meet with grieving families.
Chris Ambrogio, a Baton Rouge resident, brought a bouquet of white roses that he laid at the feet of armed police.
“I’m just upset and wanted to show them my condolences for the fallen officers,” he said. He was one of several who offered gifts to officers who remained on high alert throughout the day.
“That just shows me that the whole community has been touched by it,” he said.
