Residents mourning two officers killed in a weekend shootout in a small Mississippi city left roses, balloons and American flags at police headquarters Sunday and held an evening vigil in their memory.
The candlelight vigil for Officer James White, 35, and Cpl. Zach Moak, 31, was held outside Mississippi’s Brookhaven Police Department where the officers had worked.
There, every few minutes, people pulled up during the day in cars, leaving flowers, teddy bears and balloons not far from where their patrol cars were parked. Each car was adorned with an American flag and a wreath on its front grill.
Patrolman James White, 35 (left) and Cpl. Zach Moak, 31, were shot and killed following a shoot out at a Brookhaven, Mississippi, home early Sunday morning
About 200 Brookhaven residents turned up at the vigil for the officers Sunday, which was held at the Brookhaven Police Department where White and Moak worked
During the half-hour vigil, candles were lit and attendees sang Amazing Grace
The Brookhaven Police Department’s police chief, as well as local pastors, appealed for unity during the vigil, which included consoling messages
Police Chief Kenneth Collins called residents to Sunday’s vigil to honor these young men who gave their lives’ serving the city of more than 12,000, located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of the state capital of Jackson.
He appealed, along with local pastors, for unity during a half-hour vigil attended by about 200 people.
They lit candles, heard consoling messages from the speakers and sang ‘Amazing Grace.’
White and Moak were killed early Saturday.
Warren Strain of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said Sunday that the shooting suspect, 25-year-old Marquis Flowers, was hospitalized after being wounded in the confrontation.
White’s childhood friend, Hanna Hux (in orange), hugged a friend of White’s in front of his flower-covered cruiser Sunday afternoon, prior to the start of the vigil
Hux is seen here placing flowers on her friend, officer White’s cruiser on Sunday
Throughout the day, Brookhaven residents came to pay to respects to White and Moak
Moak (pictured) and White were ‘mortally wounded’ after exchanging gunfire with the shooter
Strain said charges are pending against Flowers and that investigation is ongoing. He did not provide an update on Flowers’ medical condition.
Authorities said Marquis Flowers, 25, is the suspected shooter. He was hospitalized after being wounded in the confrontation with White and Moak
Strain had said earlier that the officers were called to a house in Brookhaven at about 5am Saturday for a report of shots fired. Following an exchange of gunfire that left both officers ‘mortally wounded,’ the two were pronounced dead at a local hospital, Strain said.
He identified the weapon used as a handgun but wouldn’t elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
On Sunday, children jumped on a trampoline not far from the shooting scene at a Brookhaven duplex. What appeared to be several bullet holes in the aged blue siding of the duplex were pointed out with evidence markers by investigators. What looked like blood stains could be seen on the ground steps away.
The Brookhaven chief Collins has called White and Moak, both residents of Mississippi’s Lincoln County, ‘heroes.’
Hanna Hux, a Brookhaven resident who has known White since she was 12, called the slain officer one of her ‘oldest, dearest friends.’ She said she was stunned by his death.
investigator were seen collecting evidence at the scene where White and Moak were killed
An evidence marker points to an apparent bullet hole in the siding of the shooting scene
A blood stain on the lawn by a duplex where White and Moak were killed Saturday could still be seen in the grass on Sunday afternoon
White and Moak were called to this duplex in Brookhaven, while responding to reports of shots fired. By Sunday, all traces of evidence collection and police presence had been removed
‘Everybody needs to come together and support one another rather than fighting against one another,’ she told The Associated Press after leaving flowers beside both officers’ squad cars. ‘We need lots of prayers.’
This is the second time in as many years that a law enforcement official has been killed in the line of duty in the Brookhaven area.
Last year Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy William Durr, who also spent four years with Brookhaven police, was responding to a call when he was shot to death. Authorities said the gunman shot and killed seven other people in a killing spree in and around the Brookhaven area.
Willie Cory Godbolt was arrested May 28, 2017, and is awaiting trial. He is pleading not guilty and faces the death penalty if convicted.