JUL 12 2016, 7:13 PM ET

1 Suspect at Large, 3 Arrested in Alleged Baton Rouge Plot to Kill Cops

by ALEX JOHNSON




A suspect remains at large in an alleged plot to kill officers at protests after the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling at a Louisiana store, authorities said Tuesday.

Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, said at a news conference that the plot, had it been carried out, would have caused "substantial harm to police in the Baton Rouge area."

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said the plot was uncovered after a robbery Saturday shortly after midnight at a pawn shop where at least eight firearms were stolen. All were handguns, and all but two of them have been recovered, police said.

Four people were involved in the plot, Dabadie said — one of them just 13 years old. Three have been arrested, but the fourth — whose identity isn't known — remains at large, he said.

At the scene, one of the suspects revealed "real, credible evidence" that law enforcement officers were to have been targeted, Dabadie said.

Edmonson said that as long as the suspect remains free, all local law enforcement officers are under a "credible threat."




All of the officials at the news conference — including the head of the local office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — variously described the threat as "real," "substantial" and "credible."

Authorities said they couldn't reveal more details because the investigation is active and undercover officers remain the field.

But in a reference to the fatal shootings of five police officers after a protest last week, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid J. Gatreaux said: "Look at what happened in Dallas — a peaceful protest. The threat speaks for itself. We can't take anything for granted anymore."


Alton Sterling. WVLA-TV

Authorities in Baton Rouge arrested almost 150 people in weekend protests over the shootingof Sterling, 37, on July 5.

Two police officers, both of them white, are on administrative leave pending an investigation. The U.S. Justice Department has opened a separate investigation of possible civil rights violations.

The shooting, which was recorded on cellphone video, set off days of protests in Baton Rouge, where demonstrators have been met by hundreds of heavily armed and shielded police and sheriff's deputies.

Police have told NBC News that most of those arrested were from out of town, but local leaders maintain that the show of force is a good representation of severely strained relations between law enforcement and African-American residents.

The president of the local chapter of the NAACP has called on Dabadie to resign as police chief.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...t-kill-n608231