• Police eye race as motive in killings of two black men in Baton Rouge,
BATON ROUGE, La. — The slayings of two black men in Baton Rouge last week were likely racially motivated, police said Sunday, and a suspect — a 23year-old white man — was in custody. In both shootings the gunman fired from his car then walked up to the victims as they were lying on the ground and fired again multiple times.
The suspect, Kenneth Gleason, was being held on drug charges and was given a $3,500 bond on Sunday evening, a district attorney told The Associated Press. Authorities didn’t immediately have enough evidence to arrest him on charges related to the killings, but the investigation was ongoing, Baton Rouge Sgt. L’Jean McKneely told The Associated Press.
Mr. Gleason was still jailed as of 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The victims were … ambushed,” Sgt. McKneely said. “There is a strong possibility that it could be racially motivated.”
He said shell casings from the shootings linked the two slayings, and a car belonging to Mr. Gleason fit the description of the vehicle used in the killings. He said authorities had collected other circumstantial evidence but he wouldn’t say what it was.
Neither victim had any prior relationship with Mr. Gleason. It wasn’t immediately clear if Mr. Gleason had an attorney or when his first courtappearance would be.
The shootings happened about five miles from each other. The first occurred Tuesday night when 59year-old Bruce Cofield, who was homeless, was shot to death. The second happened Thursday night when 49-year-old Donald Smart was gunned down while walking to his job as a dishwasher at a cafe popular with Louisiana State University students, Sgt. McKneely said.
Mr. Smart’s aunt, Mary Smart, said she was still dealing with the shock of her nephew’s death.
“I’m feeling down and depressed. My nephew, I love him, and he was on his way to work and that makes it so sad,” she said in a telephone interview Sunday. “He was always smiling and hugging everybody. A lot of people knew him.”
Mr. Smart had a son and two daughters, she said.
She declined to comment on police allegations that her nephew might have been shot because of the color of his skin.
“I cannot say,” she said. “Only God knows.”
No one answered the door at Mr. Gleason’s house in a quiet neighborhood of mostly ranch-style homes with well-kept lawns, located about 10 miles from the sites of the shootings.
“He looks like any cleancut American kid,” said neighbor Nancy Reynolds, who said she didn’t know Mr. Gleason or his family. She said it was “hard to believe this sort of thing is still happening.”
Two of Mr. Gleason’s cousins said they couldn’t believe he had anything to do with the killings.
“He had no problems with any person,” said Garrett Sing, 37. “He had black friends, white friends, Asian friends. He made friends with anyone.”
Another cousin, 33-yearold Barton Sing, described Mr. Gleason as a “good kid” and recalled how his cousin recently asked him to teach him how to bow hunt.
“He said he never liked guns. That’s why he wanted to get into archery,” Mr. Sing said. “He’s the last person I’d think to do something like this.”
Mr. Gleason didn’t appear to have any active social media profiles.
Mr. Smart consistently showed up for his overnight shift as a dishwasher at Louie’s Cafe, The Advocate newspaper reported.