'Community is hurting,' mayor says after officer is killed

A police officer has been shot to death in the Mississippi Delta city where she grew up, and several other people were injured by gunfire

Police Officer Killed Mississippi (Michael Stewart)

A police officer has been shot to death in the Mississippi Delta city where she grew up, and several other people were injured by gunfire.

Greenville Police Department Detective Myiesha Stewart, 30, was killed Tuesday night as she and other officers responded to a call, according to Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell.

“Our community is hurting,” Greenville Mayor Mayor Errick D. Simmons said Wednesday outside City Hall, where he was joined by law enforcement officers.

Simmons said Stewart is survived by her 3-year-old son, her parents and other family members.

Tindell said in a statement that a suspect was hospitalized and is in custody. The commissioner did not identify the suspect or specify their injuries. Tindell provided no other details about the circumstances of Stewart’s killing.

Greenville, with a population of about 28,775, is close to the Arkansas state line, about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of Jackson, Mississippi. News outlets reported that the shootings happened at the intersection of U.S. Highway 82 and Mississippi Highway 1.

Stewart graduated from high school in Greenville. She majored in criminal justice at nearby Delta State University, where she played basketball in the 2013-14 season.

“She was one who exhibited courage,” Simmons said. “She was one who put fear aside to help someone else.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is examining the shooting of Stewart, as it does with all shootings involving officers in the state.

“I am truly saddened by the tragic loss of Detective Stewart,” Republican Gov. Tate Reeves wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “Please join me in prayer for her family, her friends, and the entire Greenville Police Department.”

Two other Mississippi law enforcement officers have been killed on duty this year. Johnny Patterson was struck by a car Jan. 13 while directing traffic in front of an elementary school in Shannon, and he died eight days later. Patterson was working for the school and was assistant police chief in Verona. On June 9, Meridian Police Department officer Kennis Croom was shot to death while responding to a domestic violence call.