On Monday, April 25, Rankin County deputies were conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 20 westbound.
As the deputies were conducting the traffic stop on the shoulder of the road, a white Infiniti sedan drove by the deputies in the lane adjacent to the shoulder at a recklessly high rate of speed. One of the deputies broke away and attempted to stop the driver of the Infiniti. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but it continued to flee at a high rate of speed.
With the assistance of Brandon Police officers, the vehicle was spiked near the downtown Brandon exit and pulled off the road into a ditch nearby. As deputies pulled up, the suspect jumped out of the vehicle with an assault rifle and aimed it at the deputies. Deputies returned fire before the suspect eventually turned the rifle on himself and committed suicide.
Deputies then discovered that the suspect had two children in the vehicle with him and rushed to attend to them. Both children were unharmed and immediately removed from the scene. The children were taken to the sheriff’s office and were placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. It was later discovered that the children were listed out of Florida as missing and endangered after being taken by the suspect who was listed as armed and dangerous.
The scene was turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
