Several officers shot, Baton Rouge Police Department Spokesman says

Several police officers have been shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and have been taken to a hospital, a police spokesman Don Coppola has told ABC television affiliate WAFB.

"The scene, we feel now, is contained," he said on Sunday.

Coppola had no information on the extent of injuries or whether a suspect or suspects had been detained.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Louisiana on Friday to remember a black man killed last week by white policemen, one of two deadly encounters that led to protests against racial bias in law enforcement.

A man holds a sign reading "Stop killer cops" as he protests the killing of Alton Sterling by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US July 16, 2016. Reuters

The visitation was held to accommodate the large crowd that turned out to pay their respects to the father of five known as "Big Alton”.

Police shot him at a close quarters on July 5 as he sold CDs outside a convenience store, an incident that was recorded on a mobile phone.

The deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota renewed outrage against law enforcement's treatment of minorities and also rekindled a national debate on race relations that began after police-involved killings two years ago.

Then in Dallas last Thursday, one of the protests ended with the killing of five policemen in a racially motivated attack by a black US military veteran who opened fire on white officers.