re: Baton Rouge: 6 officers shot: 3 dead, one fighting for life

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We got a knock at the door. I didn't want to get up to answer it because I knew," said Gerald.

Officer Gerald was gone. The couple has a three year old daughter.

"I'm crying and she's grabbing my face, 'Momma stop crying, momma stop crying,' and then at one moment she yelled at me, she said, 'Mommy, I wanna call my daddy right now. I wanna call my daddy right now.' I had to compose myself. I had to look at her in her little sweet blue eyes like her dad, and I had to say, 'Baby, your daddy is with Jesus now'," said Gerald.

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About an hour later, Deputy Garafola, a 24-year veteran of EBRSO, found himself in a shootout and ultimately gave his life trying to help another officer.

Since that day, Tonja says three of their four children have been sleeping in the bed with her.

"It's been a tight squeeze, but I wouldn't want it any other way," Tonja said. "They need me and they need to be able to smell him in the bed."

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Saunders said it’s difficult to think about everything Jackson leaves behind, but most difficult is the fact that his murder leaves Jackson’s 4-month-old without a father.

“He wanted so bad to be a dad, he wanted it so bad,” Saunders said. “He’ll never get to take Mason to an LSU game or stand in front of a TV like we used to and scream because we were convinced Les Miles could hear us.”

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