Officer Montrell Jackson, 32, identified as Baton Rouge shooting victim

He worked as a police officer for 10 years.

(Image credit: Patrick Dennis-Pool/Getty Images)

last updated 10 August 2016

Montrell Jackson, 32, has been identified as one of three officers killed Sunday morning during a shootout at a Baton Rouge convenience store.

A cousin and family friend both told The Baton Rouge Advocate Jackson was a 10-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department, and he recently welcomed a son, four-month-old Mason, with his wife. "He loved his job," friend Darnell Murdock told the Advocate. "It motivated him to go out and change people's lives. He was on the force to help people, to make you have a better day. He was humble, kind, and sweet. … He wasn't on there to write tickets. I don't understand how this could happen to someone like him."

In 2007, Jackson was treated for smoke inhalation after rushing into a burning apartment building to save a toddler. On July 8, Jackson posted on his Facebook page a plea for peace in Baton Rouge, writing, "These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart. This city MUST and WILL get better. I'm working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family, or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you."

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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.