A community in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana held a vigil Monday night honoring one of three police officers killed by a former U.S. Marine.
Hundreds of people gathered at a church in Baton Rouge for what has become a familiar ritual of grief and support both there and in other places across the country.
"You know the person that perpetrated the events on Sunday was not even from our community here in Baton Rouge or from the state of Louisiana so I think our community is very strong, we're very united, doesn't mean we don't have problems, we'll address those problems as a community and I think we were doing that and people that come in from outside our community to cause trouble have no place here," Baton Rouge resident Corey Sylvest said.
Military officials identified the masked gunmen who shot the officers Sunday as Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri. He served in the Marines from 2005 to 2010, including a deployment to Iraq.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said during a press conference Monday that Long's actions were "pure, unadulterated evil."
"He came here from somewhere else to do harm to our community, specifically to lawmakers in our community," the governor said.

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