(CNN) Two police officers were killed in a shootout early Saturday in Brookhaven, Mississippi, a state official said.

The officers, identified as Cpl. Zach Moak, 31, and Patrolman James White, 35, were responding to a call about shots fired around 5 a.m., Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said.

White was first at the scene, followed by Moak, an emotional Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins told reporters.

From left: Patrolman James White, 35, and Cpl. Zach Moak, 31

"We answer those calls many times and nothing ever happens but this morning something happened," Collins said. "We lost two of our brave officers."

The officers were pronounced dead at King's Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven, according to Strain.

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