State handling cases because of officers’ involvement
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officials are doing double duty in Laurel, investigating officer-involved shootings that started the weekend and capped it off.
Laurel police officers shot and wounded one man during a traffic stop at approximately 4:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a press release from the LPD and MBI. Investigators from the state agency had just been in Laurel on Friday, after a Gulfport murder suspect reported died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as personnel from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department entered the North 5th Avenue residence he was in just after noon.
The deceased was identified as Corderrius Williams, 20, of Charleston, said Coroner Burl Hall. His connection to Laurel was not known, but plenty of people at the residence evidently knew him, as they wailed, dropped to the pavement, berated and rushed at emergency personnel and reporters who were there doing their jobs. Laurel police were contacted to assist with crowd control.
U.S. Marshals reportedly contacted the JCSD after getting a tip about Williams' location, and deputies entered the residence with the intention of arresting him when they heard the gunshot, sources with knowledge of the incident said.
Because law enforcement officials were present, MBI was called in to investigate the shooting, which is protocol in cases when officers have any involvement.
Williams was reportedly found under a bed with a single gunshot wound to the right temple, and a handgun was recovered, sources said.
On Sunday morning, Laurel officers pulled over a vehicle that was occupied by three people in the area of South 4th Avenue. It appeared that one of them “was reaching for an object in the car ... (and) Officers discharged their weapons.”
One occupant received an injury to an arm, according to the press release from MBI, and was transported to South Central Regional Medical Center for treatment. Another occupant was taken into custody and another fled.
“Officers secured the scene, contacted MBI and turned the investigation over to them,” LPD Chief Tommy Cox said in a press release. “LPD will fully cooperate with the investigation.”
Neither press release specified whether the suspect who left the scene was on foot or in the vehicle. No officers received “any serious physical injury,” according to MBI.
Investigators with the state agency are gathering evidence and will turn their findings over to the Attorney General’s Office, the MBI press release concluded. Both the LPD and MBI said no other information about the incident would be released, but the LPD did ask the public for information.
Anyone with information about this case or information about any criminal activity is asked to call the LPD at 601-399-4440 or Crime Stoppers at 601-428-STOP (7867).
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