A veteran cop is dead and another is fighting for his life after gunfire was exchanged in north Baton Rouge Sunday afternoon between a homicide suspect and police. Suspected cop killer 36-year-old Ronnie Kato was eventually taken into custody around 4 PM after a lengthy standoff. Authorities say officers went to a home looking for Kato, who is suspected of killing another person earlier that day, and that’s when the shootout began. Chief Murphy Paul says the two officers were shot during a four-hour standoff with the suspect, 36-year-old Ronnie Kato, on Sunday.
“During the standoff, Kato also fired shots at our SRT officers who returned fire during the incident. As a result of the shooting, we lost a 21-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department,” said Paul.
Kato was a suspect in a homicide that occurred earlier on Sunday and affidavits indicate Kato has previously made threats against law enforcement.
The only information released about the officer indicates the deceased officer was on the force for 21 years and the surviving officer has been on the force for seven years. Paul says the shooting has shaken the law enforcement community.
“We talk about being public servants and the responsibility that goes along with being a law enforcement officer and this is the call that no chief wants to get, no police officer wants to hear, an officer died,” said Paul.
Paul called for the prayers of the communities for the families of the officers and says this is another reminder that they are more than just public servants.
“They are fathers, husbands, loved by their families, and already dealing with the stress that we have to deal with with this current COVID threat that we are in,” said Paul
Kato has been booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail. Detectives believe he’s responsible for the fatal shooting of 58-year-old Curtis Richarson in what authorities are calling a domestic violence incident.
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