Murder of 2 Black Men May Be ‘Racially Motivated,’ Police Say

(BATON ROUGE, La.) — Police believe the slayings of two black men in Baton Rouge were likely racially motivated and said Sunday they have a suspect — a 23-year-old white man — in custody. The suspect, Kenneth Gleason, was being held on drug charges. Authorities did not yet have enough evidence to charge him with murder, Baton Rouge Sgt. L’Jean McKneely told The Associated Press. McKneely said shell casings from the shootings linked the two slayings, and a car belonging to Gleason fit the description of the vehicle police were looking for. He said authorities had collected other circumstantial evidence but he wouldn’t say what it was. “There is a strong possibility that it could be racially motivated,” he said. The shootings happened about five miles from each other. The first occurred Tuesday when 59-year-old Bruce Cofield, who was homeless, was shot to death. The second happened Thursday when 49-year-old Donald Smart was gunned down walking to work at a cafe popular with Louisiana State University students, McKneely said. Smart’s aunt, Mary Smart, said she was still dealing with the shock of her nephew’s death and could not understand what had happened. “I’m feeling down and depressed. My nephew, I love him, and he was on his way to work and that makes it so sad,” she said in a telephone interview on Sunday. “He was always smiling and hugging everybody. A lot of people knew him.” Smart had a...
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