US media identified the suspect behind a shooting that killed three police officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Sunday as Gavin Long, a 29-year-old African American.

The shooting came amid a spate of race-tinged violence involving law enforcement.

Baton Rouge itself has been scarred by high racial tensions and numerous protests against police brutality since the death earlier this month of Alton Sterling, a black man shot at point-blank range by police.

US media said Long’s birthday was on Sunday.

“As of right now, we don’t know the motive of the killer. We don’t know whether the killer set out to target police officers or whether he gunned them down as they responded to a call,” President Barack Obama told a press conference.

“Regardless of motive, the death of these three brave officers underscores the danger that police across the country confront every single day, and we as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement.”