An investigation is underway at E 77th Terrace in between Lydia Avenue and Troost. Baton Rouge shooting suspect, 29-year-old Gavin Long, may have lived there.
Louisiana State Police said Long shot and killed three police officers and wounded three others on Sunday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was killed in a shootout with police.
41 Action News was at the scene where Long is believed to have lived. When news crews knocked on the door, Long's brother, Kamerran Fyer, would not answer and could be seen through the window holding a shotgun.
Look at the scene. 77th Terr bt Lydia/Paseo. Investigation underway. pic.twitter.com/8rVCd4dBh3
— Terra Hall (@TerraHall) July 17, 2016
Fryer was later escorted out of the house in handcuffs and put in the back of a police paddy wagon. He was taken into custody for a city warrant after not wearing a seatbelt. Fryer has since been released.
On Monday, reporters were once again threatened by someone at the home.
A man walking into Long's residence said he would shoot us up if reporters did not leave.
Bridget Patton, speaking for the Kansas City FBI office, said agents are providing resources and support in the on-going investigation into the Baton Rouge shootings. She would not say how many agents are committed to the effort, and whether they’re at the house near 77th Terrace and Lydia.
Neighbors react
Neighbors said they were shocked to find out the suspect is from Kansas City and living on their block.
“It's frightening to come outside and to have it right here on my block. A hundred yards away. That's frightening. It can happen anywhere. To say it won't happen on your block, your neighbors, you got to be watching what's going on. It's around and it's scary,” Tyrone Wilson said.
Brenda Thomas is the president of the Marlborough Community Coalition and has lived in the neighborhood for 26 years.
“It just takes all the air out of you, you don't know what to think,” said Thomas. “To of lived here for so long and then to hear that someone here in Kansas City in your neighborhood, a few blocks away from you was in Baton Rouge and shot three officers, it's just like a shock.”
One neighbor, Terrence Hoard, hopes communication will help settle tension between police and citizens.
"I'm not sure what the solution is. I just know that definitely the disconnect between police and the average citizen is way greater than it was when I was growing up. We actually knew policemen, they knew us," said Hoard.
Hoard said he asked his 11-year-old son if he knew Long. He told his father he had seen him riding around on his bike before.
Howard's wife, Erica Hoard, could not get past the parameter Sunday night while police and the FBI were investigating.
"Police were out there with AKs and semi-automatic guns," explained Hoard.
He said he felt more alarmed, but with the heavy police presence, he did not think any violence would happen there.
Grandview neighbors remember Gavin Long
According to the Grandview Police Department, 11 years ago Long lived on Craig Avenue.
Jacob Bellew recognized the name police say belongs to the suspected shooter.
"I get home and I show my dad the article and he just instantly said, 'He used to live next door to us, that was your friend Gavin'," he said.
Bellew said Long loved sports, was always active and always had a smile on his face.
"He was always happy and he just never seemed mad no matter what. He was just smiling. He would always make you laugh or you'd make him laugh easily. He was just fun to be around," said Bellew. "He had such a lovely family, just a beautiful family. Just you know seeing what the world might do to somebody's head is just scary."
"Gavin was a good kid," said Jacob's father Carl. "I can just remember him in the backyard on the trampoline."
Bellew said the family moved away more than a decade ago and the two lost touch.
"I heard he was joining the military and that was the last I'd ever heard of him," he said.
Military records show Long served from 2005-2010.
Now the Bellews wonder what happened to the neighbor they knew.
"Everybody needs to take a step back," said Carl. "Look around, grab your kids and give them a hug or something."
Timeline:
- In reference to Gavin Long, the Grandview C-4 School District said in a statement that Grandview High School had a student with that name and date of birth that graduated in 2005.
- Grandview Police Department records indicate Long lived in Grandview in 2005.
- Long served in the Marines from 2005-2010. He was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009, according to military records.
- The University of Alabama issued a statement saying Long attended classes for one semester in the spring of 2012.
- CNN reports on July 10, Long posted a video on YouTube. Long said the video was recorded from Dallas, where five police officers were recently killed by a sniper targeting officers.
- On Sunday, July 17, Long shot and killed three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers and injured three other officers. Long was killed at the scene.
- On Monday, July 18, Louisiana State Police said it had positively identified the shooter as Gavin Long of Missouri through fingerprints.
More about Gavin Long
Long was a sergeant in the Marine Corps before the shootings and served two deployments in Iraq. He won multiple awards during that time including the Marine Corps' good conduct medal.
What led this Marine to this path is unclear. But there are some signs he was on this path and may have had help.
Pete Williams of NBC News reports that authorities are investigating the possibility that Long coordinated with other people from Missouri to lure the officers to the location of the Baton Rouge shootings.
Long rented a car in Kansas City, stopped in Dallas a few days after the police shootings there and then went on to Baton Rouge, according to CNN. They also report Long was a member of several conspiracy groups devoted to government surveillance and monitoring.
CNN found Long had at least two websites where he identified himself as a "freedom strategist, mental game coach, nutritionist, author and spiritual advisor."
Long also went by an alias. His Twitter page is called, "Convos with Cosmo." He's also posted multiple YouTube videos.
In one titled, "Protesting, Oppression and How to Deal with Bullies", Long cited the Fourth of July.
He said when Europeans, like George Washington fight back against their oppressors, it's celebrated. But when Africans fight back, they're wrong.
In the video he talks about revolutions.
"A hundred percent have been successful through fighting back through bloodshed. Zero percent have been successful by simply protesting."
Long is accused of committing these shootings on his 29th birthday.
In his last tweet on early Saturday morning he wrote, "just because you wake up every morning doesn't mean you're living...and just because you shed your physical body doesn't mean that you're dead."
Just bc you wake up every morning doesn't mean that you're living. And just bc you shed your physical body doesn't mean that you're dead.
— Convos With Cosmo (@ConvosWithCosmo) July 17, 2016
This is a developing story, please check back for more updates.
______
Follow 41 Action News on Twitter:
Like 41 Action News on Facebook:
Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
