2 Hattiesburg officers killed; 4 suspects in custody

Authorities early Sunday morning arrested two brothers and a woman in connection with the fatal shootings of two Hattiesburg police officers, who were killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop Saturday night.

Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict confirmed the deaths of officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate.

The officers were taken to Forrest General Hospital, where they died shortly after arriving.

Tate, 25, was a recent graduate from the police academy. He posted on his Facebook page that he graduated June 11.

Tate graduated South Pike High School and attended Southwest Mississippi Community College before joining the Hattiesburg Police Department.

Deen, 34, was a K-9 officer. He was named HPD Officer of the Year in 2012.

Authorities arrested Curtis Banks, 26, and Marvin Banks, 29, and Joanie Calloway, 22, early Sunday morning. They were taken to Troop J of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, where they were to be questioned by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Cornelius Clark, age unavailable, was arrested Sunday afternoon and charged with obstruction of justice, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said.

Marvin Banks and Calloway have been charged with two counts each of capital murder, and Curtis Banks is charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to capital murder. Marvis Banks was convicted of possession of stolen property in Forrest County in 2010, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections records. He was sentenced in November 2010 to one year and one day to serve, with four years of probation. His probation was revoked, and he started a three-year sentence that ended in June 2012, when he was freed from custody on earned release supervision. That ended in May 2014.

Both Marvin and Curtis Banks were charged with the sale of crack cocaine in July 2013, according to Forrest County arrest records.

At this point, authorities are not discussing the motive. They said interviews with the suspects are ongoing. Toxicology tests are also pending.

Lamar County authorities arrested Marvin Banks at a motel shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday. His vehicle, a Hyundai Azera Limited with retired Army military license plate, was taken to Troop J.

Curtis Banks was arrested around 3 a.m. at an apartment complex.

"No sir, I didn't do it," Curtis Banks said when asked whether he had shot two Hattiesburg patrolmen. The question came from reporters who were present at Troop J as deputies led Curtis Banks into Troop J.

Both men have multiple arrests for weapons and gun charges, and both have felony convictions.

Calloway was also taken into custody. Authorities said she was in the car with the Banks brothers at the time of the shooting.

Strain said one officer stopped a 2000 Gold Cadillac Escalade in an industrial corridor about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, a second officer arrived to assist him and shots were fired.

Hattiesburg residents Tamika Mills and Pearnell Roberts discovered the two officers who had been shot. The pair got out to check on the officers and called 9-1-1.

"Never in my life have I experienced or seen anything like this except on TV, and to be in the midst of it, it's shocking and heartbreaking," Mills said. "As we were coming down Fourth Street, we noticed a bunch of lights. As we came on through, (Roberts) told me to turn around because she saw somebody laying on the ground.

"So I backed up. That's when we noticed the officer was down. We just saw that one, but in the course of me being on the phone with 9-1-1, I turned and I saw another officer across the street rolling on the ground. (Roberts) ran across the street to check on him. He wasn't all the way alert but he asked her, 'Am I dying? I know I'm dying. Just hand me my walkie-talkie.'"

Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree spoke from the hospital after the shooting, asking for prayers and telling the public that the suspects would be found.

"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 said during a brief news conference outside the hospital. "But the person or persons who did this are not safe in the City of Hattiesburg."

Multiple law enforcement agencies swarmed to the scene between Gordon Street and East Fourth Street, crisscrossing throughout the fringes of downtown.

Strain said the three are being held in different locations outside of Forrest County, which is routine in a situation like this.

Gov. Phil Bryant, a former law enforcement officer himself, commented on the deaths on Sunday morning.

"Deborah and I join all Mississippians this morning in mourning the death of our two police officers in Hattiesburg. This should remind us to thank all law enforcement for their unwavering service to protect and serve. May God keep them all in the hollow of his hand."

It is the first slaying of a Hattiesburg officer since Jackie Dole Sherrill was killed on New Year's Eve in 1984.

"Thirty years ago was the last time that this has happened in Hattiesburg, and we've had a lot to happen over the past 15 years with tornadoes and storms," DuPree said. "But you never want this to happen."

In a news conference Sunday morning, Dupree deferred questions about the investigation to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. He did say that Calloway was the driver of the vehicle. Deen was the first on the scene, Dupree said.

Contributing: Sam R. Hall, Therese Apel and Sarah Fowler for The Clarion-Ledger; Tim Doherty and Jason Munz for the Hattiesburg American; and the Associated Press