'I wonder if this city loves me', slain Baton Rouge officer asked

Montrell Jackson. (Photo: AP)

Days before he was gunned down in Baton Rouge by an ex-Marine, veteran police officer Montrell Jackson shared his emotional fatigue at serving in a city he feared was falling out of love with law enforcement.

Jackson, 32, died on Sunday along with two colleagues when the decorated former sergeant opened fire on them, nearly two weeks after police in Louisiana's capital shot and killed a black man.

That earlier shooting triggered nationwide protests, including one in Dallas where five officers were shot dead, and left Jackson, who had served the force in Baton Rouge for 10 years and whose partner recently gave birth, psychologically scarred.

"These last three days have tested me to the core," Jackson wrote on his Facebook page, in an entry posted the day after the Dallas shootings and just over a week before he was killed.

"I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform, I get nasty hateful looks, and out of uniform some consider me a threat."

He described himself as "tired physically and emotionally," adding: "These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart."

Also among the dead officers was Matthew Gerald, 41, a rookie with a military background, the police department said on Facebook.

The third officer killed was Sheriff's Deputy Brad Garafola, 45, a father of four, local media reported, citing Sheriff Sid Gautreaux and Garafola's wife, Tonja.

A fourth policeman, aged 41, was fighting for his life on Monday, Gautreaux said, one of six in all shot by a attacker who officials named as decorated ex-U.S. Marine sergeant Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri.

Long, who was believed to have acted alone, was himself shot to death in a gunfight with police.

Both he and Jackson were black.

'Big teddy bear'

Jackson's friends and relatives took to Facebook to remember him.

"Rest in Peace to my former partner and one of the best cops I've ever known," Marcus Tillman said in a much-shared post.

"He was a black life that apparently didn't matter to the one that took it."

The Facebook page shows several pictures of a baby boy, and comments suggested that the child was Jackson's son.

Jonathan Saunders, a friend of Jackson, said the officer was a big man - but gentle and kind.

"He was 220 pounds of Teddy Bear," said Saunders, who lives in New Orleans and once worked at a Laser Tag business where Jackson was a part-time security guard. "If you needed a hug, you could walk up to him and hug him. He cared about everybody."

Jackson ended his post with the words: "If you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you."

Saunders said in a phone interview that Jackson's child was just a few months old.

A Facebook page belonging to Matthew Gerald featured images of law enforcement badges, and friends and family posted condolences on a page that appeared to belong to his wife.

Two other officers received non-life-threatening injuries in Sunday's attack.