Murder suspects taken into custody after standoff near Sherwood Forest Boulevard
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BATON ROUGE - A standoff involving multiple murder suspects triggered a massive police response off Sherwood Forest Boulevard Wednesday afternoon.
The situation was first reported around 1:30 p.m. on North Harrells Ferry Road, just off South Sherwood Forest.
Photos showed police staging outside Woodspring Suites, described online as a chain of "extended stay" hotels. Police also appeared to be blocking off the entrance of the neighboring Magnolia Trace apartment complex, as well as blocking off traffic from turning onto North Harrells Ferry at the Sherwood Forest intersection.
The Baton Rouge Police Department said officers arrested 25-year-old Mark Shorter, 22-year-old Javan Shorter and 21-year-old Terry Barnes for murder.
Police say the main reason they were able to take the three people in custody were because of the help of the Baton Rouge Community Street team and the Baton Rouge NAACP.
"They told me they weren't armed, they were just afraid, and as long as they could visibly see me they would come out, and that is exactly what happened," Eugene Collins with the NAACP said.
These organizations as well as 100 Black Men in Baton Rouge hopes this will become the norm.
Dadrius Lanus is the Executive Director of 100 Black Men. He says some people are afraid of police, and he hopes community lead organizations can help out, and slow crime.
"We want to be an intermediary, yes we want to be a part of this work, and yes we want to be a part of driving down crime across the board," Lanus told WBRZ.
Police say the men were wanted for the killing of Antonio Johnson, who was found shot to death April 3. They have each been booked on a count of first-degree murder.