One of the Officers Killed in Baton Rouge was the Cousin of Saline Grad Josh Jackson

Today’s tragedy in Baton Rouge may hit the Saline community a little harder than most.

Montrell Jackson, one of three officers shot and killed during a firefight Sunday morning. Jackson, 32, is the cousin of Saline High School graduate Joshua Jackson, who quarterbacked the Hornets to Ford Field two years ago and now plays at Virginia Tech.

Rest in peace to my cousin Montrell Jackson who was one of the policeman that was killed. #PrayForBatonRouge

— Josh Jackson (@joshiejack17) July 17, 2016

Montrell Jackson was a 10-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department. His son was born just a few months ago.  

The Advocate reported  that Montrell Jackson was once injured trying to save a toddler from a burning building.

Josh Jackson’s father, Fred Jackson, the long-time University of Michigan football coach, was part of the Saline football program before becoming head coach at Ypsilanti. Fred Jackson is from Baton Rouge.

Police identified Gavin Eugene Long as the shooter in what police have described as an ambush. Long, a former Marine, was described as a “black separatist” in an LA Times article.

In a highly publicized case, Baton Rouge Police officers killed Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, outside a convenience store July 5. The next day in Minnesota, in another highly publicized case, Philando Castile was killed by police. On July 7, Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, killing five officers and wounding nine others.

Earlier this week, police in the Baton Rouge area police arrested three suspects accused of stealing handguns and plotting to harm police. The suspects were 20, 17 and 13 years old.

Checked, & this appears legit. Posted 10 days ago by Montrell Jackson, a #BatonRouge officer killed. Devastating. pic.twitter.com/6MUu9bfXtQ

— HannahJane Parkinson (@ladyhaja) July 17, 2016

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