We now have an unconfirmed report of what happened:
Both officers were wearing vests during a traffic stop by Officer Deen. Officer Tate soon arrived to assist Deen. Officer Deen approached the vehicle. Marvin Banks, a felon, was outside the car (we think Deen ordered Banks out) but there was a gun on the front seat. He pulled the gun out and shot Deen in the face (confirmed by gunshot residue). Deen “was dead before he even hit the ground.” Officer Tate turned to run and get behind the door of his car (which is not cover, unless armored). Banks fired at him and hit him in the back below his vest. The bullet traversed upward into his upper body, hit the aorta and other organs. Banks is reported to have confessed to the crime. Five suspects have been arrested, and police are searching for more persons of interest.
Preliminary FBI statistics released this week show that 51 LEOs were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2014. This is an increase of almost 89% when compared to the 27 officers killed in 2013 but is about 20% lower than the average of 64 during the period 1980-2014.
Be careful out there.
A Laurel, MS Subway restaurant employee has been fired after posting a photo on Facebook that appeared to show her in uniform celebrating the killing of the two Hattiesburg officers.
Multiple news outlets report that Sierra McCurdy, who worked at a Subway in Laurel (near Hattiesburg), wrote “GOT EM” in reference to the officers on a post accompanied by emojis of a handgun over a photo of herself in a Subway uniform. The post apparently referred to the fatal shootings of 34-year-old Benjamin Deen and 25-year-old Liquori Tate.
McCurdy’s posts created a firestorm on Twitter and many urged Subway to fire her. Subway responded with a tweet saying the franchise had fired McCurdy and her behavior does not represent company values.
No word on where McCurdy is now hiding, which is probably a good thing.
The nearby Sandersville and South Central Regional Medical Center Subway locations, whose owner did not employ McCurdy, offered free meals to officers who show their badge this week.
If you get a phone call soliciting donations for the officers’ families, it’s a scam.
Advice to LEOs, military, etc. PAY ATTENTION!
Posted by John S. Farnam on 11 May 2015
Advice to Police and Police Departments:
With the officer safety situation deteriorating as fast as it is, stop obsessing about “transparency.”
- Dump individual email addresses on your web page
- Dump names and photos of smiling officers
- Dump descriptions of, and data on, divisions/precincts
- Dump personnel biographies
- Dump Facebook
- Dump Twitter
- Dump Reddit
- Dump Skype
- Dump photos/descriptions of equipment, missions, schedules, uniforms, weaponry
We are in a shooting war, not a public relations, web-presence competition.
Those days are over!
