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 eight handguns and a BB rifle were stolen. Two of the handguns have yet to be recovered, he said.
Four men were involved in the police plot, Dabadie said. Three of them — Antonio Thomas, 17, Malik Bridgewater, 20, and Trashone Coats, 23 — have been arrested on various firearms and theft-related charges, but the fourth, whose identity isn't known, remains at large, along with the two missing handguns, police said.
A 13-year-old boy, who wasn't identified because he is a juvenile, was also taken into custody in connection with the pawn shop burglary, police said later in a statement.
Police said in the statement that Thomas was arrested on the roof of the pawn shop with a handgun and a BB rifle and "stated that he and three other suspects stole the firearms and were going to get bullets to shoot police."
Dabadie also said Thomas disclosed "real, credible evidence" that law enforcement officers were to have been targeted.
Authorities said they couldn't reveal more details because the investigation is active and undercover officers remain the field, but Edmonson said that as long as the fourth suspect remains free, all local law enforcement officers are under a "credible threat."
Likewise, all of the other 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."
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. IMAGE: Alton Sterling
Authorities in Baton Rouge arrested almost 150 people in
weekend protests over the shooting of 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.
© Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. at a news conference Tuesday. Image: Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr.