Curtis Banks, right, and Marvin Banks, are suspects in the killings of two Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers. (Photos provided by police)
Two Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers, a rookie and a decorated K-9 officer, were fatally shot during a routine traffic stop Saturday night.
Police have arrested a 29-year-old city man, his 22-year-old girlfriend and his 26-year-old brother in connection with the shooting, according to the Clarion-Ledger.
Marvin Banks, his younger brother, Curtis, and Marvin’s girlfriend, Joanie Calloway, were all arrested early Sunday morning, several hours after the shooting. A fourth person, Cornelius Clark, was also arrested later Sunday.
The officers were shot at about 8 p.m., according to WDAM-TV.
They have been identified as 34-year-old Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate, 25, according to The Clarion-Ledger.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Older Brother Is Accused of Firing the Fatal Shots
Marvin Banks, Joanie Calloway and Curtis Banks have been charged in connection with the deaths of two Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers. (Police photos)
Police tracked down the suspects after a hourslong manhunt.
Marvin Banks was the first of the brothers to be taken into custody, shortly before 1 a.m., about five hours after the shooting. He was arrested at a local motel.
Curtis Banks was taken into custody at about 3 a.m. at a local apartment building, WDAM reported. He denied shooting the officers:
Curtis Banks replied, “no sir I didn’t do it” when asked if he killed the 2 HPD officers. #WDAM http://t.co/GH23YBKxx7
Joanie Calloway, 22, was also arrested Sunday morning. Police said she was driving the car that was stopped before the shooting occurred.
Marvin Banks, the accused shooter, and Calloway were both charged with two counts of capital murder. Marvin was also charged with grand theft auto and possession of a firearm by a felon. His brother, Curtis, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of capital murder. Police said he was not in the car when the shooting occurred.
Cornelius Clark, 28, a passenger in the vehicle, was charged with obstruction of justice.
Police told The Associated Press that Officer Benjamin Deen stopped a gold 2000 Cadillac Escalade SUV in an industrial area. Deen called for backup and Tate, a rookie, responded.
After the shooting, Marvin Banks fled in a police car belonging to one of the officers, according to The Clarion-Ledger. The newspaper reported that the vehicle was later located after it was abandoned by the suspects.
Police cruiser stolen during shooting of officers arrives @MHPTroopJ office. #WDAM http://t.co/7oa74VqrZe
The shooting happened at Gordon and East Fourth streets. Police have not said why Deen stopped the Escalade. They have also not said what led to the shooting.
Hattiesburg Police spokesman Lieutenant John Traxler told the AP, “All I know right now is that there was a traffic stop and someone started shooting at them and both of the officers were struck.”
2. The Brothers Are From Hattiesburg & Live Near the Shooting Scene
Curtis Banks (Facebook)
According to WDAM reporter Ryan Moore, Curtis and Marvin Banks are both Hattiesburg, Mississippi residents. They live near the scene of the shooting.
Police said the brothers have both been arrested previously on drug and gun charges, according to the New York Times.
They were both arrested in July 2013 on charges related to the sale of crack cocaine, according to the Hattiesburg American.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, Marvin Banks was convicted of possession of stolen property in 2010 and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, along with four years of probation. His probation was later revoked and he was sent back to prison. He left prison again in June 2012 and his probation ended in May 2014.
Curtis Banks being brought in this morning for questioning in the shooting deaths of 2 HPD patrolmen. http://t.co/PpTQ8rEpj1
Curtis Banks attended Hattiesburg High School and was a standout baseball player there. A pitcher, Banks was named to the all-state team in 2006 after his team won the 5A state championship, according to the Meridian Star.
Officers view suspects photos from the scene. #WDAM http://t.co/biT1xFDs3Y
3. Their Mother Blames Drugs For the Shooting
Mary Smith, mother of Curtis & Marvin Banks speaks out. Pair jailed on charges for the murder of 2 HPD officers. http://t.co/8pqE2AJaKt
Mary Smith, the mother of Marvin and Curtis Banks, said she blames drugs for the shooting.
“They still getting them pills, and that’s how he got hooked on that stuff. It was those pills.” Smith told WDAM-TV. “They need help, and I tried.”
“They are still my children, and I still love them. I am sorry for the tragedy,” Smith told the news station.
Marvin Banks and his 6-year-old son live with Smith, she told The Associated Press. She said it looked like he was high on drugs in photos taken by police after his arrest.
“You could tell something was wrong with him,” Smith told the AP. She said he also has mental health issues.
4. One of the Officers Said ‘Am I Dying? I Know I’m Dying’ After They Were Found by Passersby
Officer Benjamin Deen, with his K-9 Tomi, left, and Officer Liquori Tate were gunned down in Hattiesburg. (Facebook/Hattiesburg Police photo)
Tamika Mills and Pearnell Roberts found the officers after they drove past the scene, they told the Clarion-Ledger. After one of the women saw someone laying on the ground, they stopped to check and called 9-1-1.
Mills told the newspaper:
Never in my life have I experienced or seen anything like this expect on TV and to be in the midst of it, it’s shocking and heartbreaking. As we were coming down Fourth Street, we noticed a bunch of lights. As we came on through, (Roberts) told me to turn around because she saw somebody laying on the ground.
So I backed up. That’s when we noticed the officer was down. We just saw that one, but in the course of me being on the phone with 9-1-1, I turned and I saw another officer across the street rolling on the ground. (Roberts) ran across the street to check on him. He wasn’t all the way alert but he asked her, ‘Am I dying? I know I’m dying. Just hand me my walkie-talkie.’
The officers were taken to a nearby hospital and were pronounced dead there.
Liquori Tate, 25, joined the Hattiesburg police force in 2014 after graduating from the police academy. The other officer, 34-year-old Benjamin Deen, worked as a K-9 officer.
Tate is from Hattiesburg and Deen is from the Sumrall area, the Forrest County Coroner told the Hattiesburg American.
Deen was named the department’s Officer of the Year in 2012, according to the Clarion-Ledger.
5. The Officers’ Line of Duty Deaths Are the First in Hattiesburg in 30 Years
Jackie Dole Sherrill was the last Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officer killed in the line of duty. She was fatally shot New Year’s Eve 1984. (Hattiesburg Police Department photo)
The last line of duty death in Hattiesburg, a city of about 47,000 people in southern Mississippi, was in 1984. Sergeant Jackie Dole Sherrill was killed on New Year’s Eve that year, according to The Clarion-Ledger.
According to the Hattiesburg city website, Sherrill and other officers were serving a felony warrant when Sherrill was fatally wounded by another officer’s weapon during a struggle with the suspect. She was the first female police officer in Hattiesburg and its first detective. She was also the first female officer to be killed in the line of duty in Mississippi.
“Thirty years ago was the last time that this has happened in Hattiesburg, and we’ve had a lot to happen over the past 15 years with tornadoes and storms,” Mayor Johnny DuPree said at a news conference. “But you never want this to happen.”
Sherrill’s daughter, Erica Sherrill Owens, went to high school with Officer Benjamin Deen, who was killed Saturday night.
“When I heard that two officers had been shot, I selfishly, immediately thought, ‘Oh my God! I hope it’s no one I know,’ ” Sherrill Owens told the Hattiesburg American. “I know it’s selfish to think that, because you don’t want it to be anybody, but immediately, I’m running the list in my head, and the first name that came to mind was B.J. because I knew he still worked patrol and I grew up with him.”
She said she heard her father, former police officer Charlie Sherrill, on the phone with a friend, “and when he got to the last name, my heart just sank,” she said. “He was such a good guy, just such a good guy.”
Sherrill Owens, who was 3 when her mother was killed, said of her mother’s death, “I always hoped that she would be the last. Mother’s Day, it’s always a tough day, but this, this is worse.”
Three other officers have been killed in the line of duty in the department’s history: Officer Jessie James Everett (March 9, 1952); Officer M.W. Vinson Jr. (March 9, 1952) and Sgt. David Anthony (May 23, 1973).
Everett and Vinson were fatally shot during a shootout with a suspect wanted for a burglary. The officers had witnessed a man and woman leave the scene of a break-in in a vehicle. After stopping the vehicle a short time later, they exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects and were both killed.
Anthony was fatally shot while responding to a bank robbery.
The department recently dealt with the off-duty death of another young officer.
Zac Denny, 25, died in October 2014 after he was involved in a car crash while off-duty. Denny had been with the department for about three years. His father is a 20-year veteran of the force.