Police had killed the armed attacker, who died during a shootout with officers. Two law enforcement officials said the gunman used a semi-automatic rifle during the attack. No motive for the attack was known. Police had warned people to stay inside as they said they sought two other potential suspects. The suspect, identified as Gavin Long and Sunday was his 29th birthday. Long had been in Louisiana to celebrate. He was a Marine who achieved the rank of sergeant and had been deployed to Iraq before leaving service in August, 2010. Long was a student at the University of Alabama for one semester in spring 2012. “The violence, the hatred, just has to stop,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said at a news conference. The president Obama issued a simple and impassioned plea for calm.
