Baton Rouge police say alleged plot to shoot officers uncovered, 3 arrested

Protesters outside of the Baton Rouge store where Alton Sterling was killed.

(Image credit: Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

last updated 13 July 2016

Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Tuesday a burglary over the weekend at a pawn shop was part of a wider plot to attack law enforcement officers in the city.

Early Saturday, officers responded to a burglary call at the Cash America Pawn Store, where they discovered that nine guns had been stolen, WAFB reports. A suspect arrested at the scene, 17-year-old Antonio Thomas, reportedly told investigators that he and at least three other men were behind the burglary, and that they planned to use the stolen guns against police; Thomas also allegedly said the plot stemmed from the officer-involved shooting of Alton Sterling last week in Baton Rouge. Along with Thomas, two other suspects have been arrested and seven guns have been recovered. An unidentified fourth suspect is still at large. (Note: This article has been updated.)

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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