NYPD, City Officials React to Killing of Baton Rouge Officers

NEW YORK CITY, NY — The NYPD is again on high alert in the wake of the shooting of seven police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three of the officers have died in what has been described as an ambush-style attack.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told CBS News the police were reinforcing the alert they sent out a little over a week ago — in the wake of the killing of five Dallas officers — for NYPD officers to always travel in pairs and be on high alert. The Baton Rouge attack was in such close succession to Dallas that they hadn't removed the original alert.

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"This was just to heighten our officers attention to the fact that it happened again," Bratton said speaking to CBS Evening News on Sunday. "What we did today change was our anti-crime units which usually work in plain clothes, will for the time being, work in full uniform."

Mayor Bill de Blasio sent out a tweet mourning the death of the three officers shot in Baton Rouge on Sunday — the second anniversary of the police-involved killing of New York City resident Eric Garner.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also sent his thoughts in the wake of the shooting.

"Today, our hearts are heavy as we struggle to cope with the horrific shootings of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – a cowardly attack that resulted in three deaths," Cuomo said in a statement. "These heroes put their lives on the line every day to protect their fellow citizens and the senseless manner in which their lives were taken is appalling."

Bratton reiterated the NYPD's dedication to community policing to bridge the gap between police officers and the communities they serve.

"We need to find at all costs common ground so that communities can talk with us and we can talk with them," Bratton told CBS Evening News. "They need to see us, and we need to see them, so that we're not basically operating on bias, implicit bias, prejudice, all the things that all of us have in our lives. As police officers, even if we have them, we have to overcome them with everybody equally, in an appropriate fashion."

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards described the Baton Rouge shooting, in which three officers were killed and three injured, as a "heinous attack on law enforcement."

Tensions between police and citizens have been running high in the area following a police-involved shooting death of a citizen nearly two weeks ago, and police have received "credible" threats against officers since.

The suspect responsible for the shooting was shot dead at the scene. Authorities had previously said there may be two more suspects at large, but officials say there is no active shooter scene and the suspect responsible for the attack has been shot dead, officials said at a press conference.

The gunman was identified by several major news networks as 29-year-old Gavin Long, of Kansas City, Missouri.

"We're in perilous times at the moment, sailing in unchartered waters, where everywhere we look we're in harm's way — not just the police but the public — and we're going to have to work at it together, because together we can solve these issues," Bratton told CBS Evening News.