Gavin Eugene Long was a resident of Kansas City, Missouri.

Long was part of an anti-government group called the New Freedom Movement.

^[8]

He served in The U.S.

Marine Corps.

He left the Marines in 2010 with an honorable discharge as a sergeant at the E-5 level.

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Long graduated from the University of Alabama.

He was on the Dean’s List in 2012.

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Long filed for divorce from his wife in 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri.

He and his wife did not have children at the time of the divorce.

Long had a YouTube channel he used to propagate Beliefs and theology of the Nation of Islam.

He considered himself a light-skinned black man.

^[16]He had travelled extensively in Africa, where he became a vegetarian and wrote 3 books.

Long describes himself as an "Alpha Male".

^{[3] [0]} On social media, Long went by Cosmo and described himself as a life coach, nutritionist, and personal trainer.

^{[21] [2]}

On Twitter, Long praised Micah Johnson, the 2016 Dallas Police Protest shooter.

^[-1]In his final tweet, he hinted at his crime, writing, "Just bc you wake up every morning doesn't mean that you're living, and just bc you shed your physical body doesn't mean you're dead."

^[-1]

On July 17, 2016 Long opened fire on police in 2016 shooting of Baton Rouge police officers killing at three officers and wounding three others.

One of his victims was a black police officer, Officer Montrell Jackson.

During the shooting he also killed officers Brad Garafola and Matthew Gerald.

^[18]

Long undertook the murder spree on his 29th birthday.

^[20]

A reporter who tried going to Long's residence was met with a man armed with an AK-47.

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