“I just want to say God bless these killers,” said Kedrick Pitts. “I continue to pray for those guys, too.”

Pitts’ brother, Montrell Jackson, was one of the three police officers shot and killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jackson, 32, was shot outside a convenience store by former Marine Gavin Long. In an interview with NPR on Sunday, July 17, Pitts said he believes God has a plan in what happened to his brother and the other police officers who were killed.

When asked by NPR’s Michel Martin to touch on a more political aspect of the shooting, Pitts had no comment. Martin asked if there was anything Pitts wanted to say about “the fact that your brother is also an African American man wearing the uniform” in light of the tension between African Americans and police officers in Baton Rouge.

“I don’t know what were their motives, but I just hope this is a real eye-opener to the community, to the whole world,” Pitts said. “It sucks that it had to be my brother, my best friend. But God had his plan and I trust and I believe in him.”

Pitts said he wants people to know that his brother is “in God’s hands.” He asked for prayers for himself and his family.

“I will continue to pray for you all, and I believe he will want this world to be a better place to put a end to all this madness and everybody come together,” Pitts said.

In the interview, Pitts described his brother as a man who loved his job and worked seven days a week. Jackson had been a police officer for 10 years. “He was well-known throughout the city,” Pitts said. He said Jackson “loved really being there for others.”

Jackson wrote a Facebook post on June 8, which Pitt elaborated on in the interview. In the post, Jackson wrote:

I’m tired physically and emotionally, disappointed in some family friends and officers for some reckless comments, but, hey, what’s in your heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy. But I definitely won’t be looking at you the same. Thank you to everyone that’s reached out to me or my wife. It was needed and much appreciated. I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if the city loves me in uniform. I get nasty, hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat. I’ve experienced so much in my short life in these last three days have tested me to the core.

Pitts said this post was a reaction to the “Alton Sterling situation.” He said his brother “wants justice for their family also, but he just asks everyone to respect everyone, continue to love everyone and he wanted everyone to get through this together. He didn’t want any hatred going on, especially killing.”

Pitts remembered Jackson for his dedication to “God, family and the police force,” the Associated Press reported.