Public security

Police Shootings Raise Questions Over Role of Gunmen’s Military Past

The disclosure that gunmen who took deadly aim at police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge both served in the armed forces has renewed old but recurring speculation about whether their military experience may have played some role in their actions.

Such questions have long rankled some veterans groups and military officials, who say a relatively small number of high-profile shootings might damage the respect in which this generation of veterans is held.

“We’re a big organization,” said Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook, who noted that the men in question— Micah Xavier Johnson in Texas and Gavin Long in Louisiana—were no longer affiliated with the military when they took their turn to violence.