HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) ? A coroner says two police officers have died after being shot in the line of duty in the southern Mississippi city of Hattiesburg.
Coroner Butch Benedict in Mississippi's Forrest County told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger (
Suspects named in slaying of two Hattiesburg officers) that both Hattiesburg officers had died late Saturday. They'd been taken to the hospital, where the paper said the mayor briefly spoke.
Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree told the newspaper that authorities were searching for the suspect. He said he urged residents to stay inside their homes during the search.
"The men and women who go out every day to protect us, the men and woman who go out every day to make sure that we're safe, they were turned on (Saturday) night," DuPree told reporters outside a local hospital, according to the paper.
The newspaper reports these are the first Hattiesburg officers to die in the line of duty in 30 years. Their identities and the specific circumstances surrounding the deaths were not immediately disclosed by police.
A Hattiesburg police public information officer, Lieut. John Traxler, told The Associated Press by phone late Saturday that he had no immediate comment but he expected to release information later.
A call to DuPree's office for further comment was not immediately returned.
Report: 2 Mississippi officers fatally shot; suspect sought - Yahoo News