La. police: 3 arrested in ‘credible threat’ to officers

BATON ROUGE, La. — Police arrested three suspects and were seeking a fourth suspect accused of stealing several handguns as part of what authorities Tuesday described as “substantial, credible threat” to harm police officers in the Baton Rouge area.

The arrests come at a time of heightened tensions after the deadly police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul, Minn., and the killing of five police officers in Dallas last week.

Authorities in Baton Rouge discovered the alleged plot while responding to a burglary at a pawn shop early Saturday, Baton Rouge police Chief Carl Dabadie said in a news conference. The first suspect arrested told police that “the reason the burglary was being done was to harm police officers.” The chief said the suspect didn’t indicate any details about when or where a possible plot would be carried out.

“We have been questioned repeatedly over the last several days about our show of force and why we have the tactics that we have. Well, this is the reason, because we had credible threats against the lives of law enforcement in this city,” he said.

The police department has come under criticism for the tactics it has employed with protesters, us- ing riot police and militarystyle vehicles on the streets of the capital city. Over a three-day period, police arrested about 200 protesters.

Authorities said they arrested one suspect at the pawn shop and tracked down two others. The third suspect arrested was a 13old boy.

Police called on the fourth suspect to turn himself in.

Police didn’t immediately release the names of the suspects but said they all are from Baton Rouge and all are black.

State Police Col. Mike Edmonson called it a “substantial, credible threat” to police.

Six of the eight stolen firearms have been recovered and two are still at large, authorities said.

A week after Alton Sterling, 37, was shot and killed by police , tension remains high in the city.

While protesters demand justice for Sterling, the shootings in Dallas last week and other attacks on police around the country have put law enforcement officers on edge.

Earlier Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards defended the police response to protesters, saying Tuesday that the riot gear was appropriate.

“We’ve had a police officer with teeth knocked out of his face because of a rock,” he said. “If you don’t have on riot gear, you have no defense against that sort of thing.”