Three suspects have been arrested in the fatal shooting of two police officers in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
According to the Hattiesburg American, two suspects have been charged with capital murder in the deaths of Benjamin Deen, 34, and Liquori Tate, 25.
Marvin Banks and Joanie Calloway were charged with two counts while Banks has also been charged with possessing a firearm while also being a felon. Banks had also stolen the police cruiser after the police officers were shot before he left the vehicle a few blocks away.
Curtis Banks, Marvin’s brother, was charged with being an accessory after the fact on two counts of capital murder.
Two residents of Hattiesville had called 911 after they drove past the crime scene and saw the police officers.
As Tamika Mills called 911, she discovered one of the officers was still alive and her companion, Pearnell Roberts, went to see how he was. The officer asked the woman “’Am I dying? I know I’m dying. Just hand me my walkie-talkie.’”
The Associated Press reported the shooting is the first in three decades that police officers in the city were killed.
The spokesman for Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Warren Strain, said it would be “premature to talk about” what led to the traffic stop or what the actions of the officers were before the shooting. Both officers were rushed to the hospital before they passed away.