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Mississippi is in mourning after the death of two Brookhaven police officers shot dead Saturday morning in a shootout. The two officers – James White, 35, and Zack Moak, 31, worked for the Brookhaven Police Department, a small town on Interstate 55 in the Jackson metropolitan area.
The officers reacted around 5am after learning that shots had been fired, officials said at a press conference.
"Two heroes have lost their lives," police chief Kenneth Collins said Saturday after a press conference, according to the Daily Leader newspaper. "We respond to these calls many times, and nothing happens, a hundred times – just once, two great people who have lost their lives in the line of duty and who are both heroes. in the presence of Jesus now. "
Collins said that Brookhaven is a "safe community … but like any place, we have a crime," according to the AP.
In the middle of an exchange of gunfire, the two officers were "fatally injured" and then declared dead at the local hospital, according to the AP. The weapon used was identified as a handgun.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant asked for prayers.
"Let's all pray now for the family and loved ones of these dead heroes," Governor Bryant said in a tweet. "May the good God keep them in his eternal arms."
Authorities have a suspect in custody who was transported to a hospital in the Jackson area, according to Clarion-Ledger. The newspaper says the suspect is Marquis Flowers, 25, and that he was injured in a shootout. He is the only suspect involved, Mississippi Public Security Department spokesman Warren Strain told the press conference, the Clarion-Ledger reported.
The Brookhaven police were killed during a gun exchange with a suspect on North Sixth Street early Saturday morning, the Brookhaven Daily Leader reported.
More than two dozen police vehicles were crammed into a "dense" area in Brookhaven where the shooting occurred, ransacking the area and questioning potential witnesses, the Brookhaven newspaper reported.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said that the officers had paid the ultimate price in the performance of their duties.
"These officers sacrificed everything to ensure the safety of their community. We pray for their families this morning, "he said in a tweet.
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