IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

'Let Peace Prevail': Lousiana Leaders Respond to Shootings in Baton Rouge

'To me this is not so much about gun control as it is about what’s in men’s hearts,' said East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.
Image: Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards speaks at a news conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards speaks at a news conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 17, 2016.JOE PENNEY / Reuters

In the wake of a shooting that left three Louisiana officers dead and three more wounded Sunday morninga tragic cap to two weeks of unrest following the fatal police shooting of a black man, the state's governor declared that the violence "has to stop."

Other Louisiana officials also expressed their fatigue of unrest in the state and across the nation as the tumult climaxed Sunday with two Baton Rouge police officers and one East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office deputy shot dead.

"To me this is not so much about gun control as it is about what’s in men’s hearts," said East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. "Until we come together as a nation, as a people — to heal as a people — if we don’t do that and this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people."

Image: Baton Rouge Police run from the emergency room ramp as a man is taken into custody after a gun was found in his vehicle
Baton Rouge Police run from the emergency room ramp as a man is taken into custody after a gun was found in his vehicle near the entrance of Our Lady Of The Lake Medical Center, on July 17, 2016, in Baton Rouge, La.Hilary Scheinuk / The Advocate via AP

The shooting came a little more than a week after five Dallas police officers were shot and killed in the midst of a peaceful protest over the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge andPhilando Castile near St. Paul, Minnesota.

"Let peace prevail," Baton Rouge Kip Holden implored Sunday.

"There simply is no place for more violence," echoed Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. "It doesn’t address any injustice, perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself."

"The violence, the hatred just has to stop," Edwards said. "And it's in times like this, I wish the command of the English language that I have were adequate to the task to convey the full range of the emotions I am feeling."

"We are not going to tolerate more hate and violence," Edwards said before asking for prayers so that "we can be what we're supposed to be in the United States of America."

"Because we're not there today," he said.