'Unfathomable tragedy': 2 officers killed

On a Sunday when the nation celebrated mothers, Hattiesburg mourned two fallen sons.

"No parent should have to bury their child before them, and here we are on Mother's Day, with a tragedy for all America, a tragedy for our community," Mayor Johnny DuPree said.

Hattiesburg Police Department patrolmen Benjamin J. Deen and Liquori Tate died at Forrest General Hospital Saturday night after being shot shortly before 8 p.m. while making a traffic stop on East Fourth Street.

Three suspects were arrested between the time of incident and 3 a.m. Sunday.

Marvin Banks, 29, and Joanie Calloway, 22, both of Hattiesburg, were charged with two counts of capital murder, while Banks' brother, Curtis Banks, 26, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of capital murder.

Marvin Banks also was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and grand theft auto for fleeing in one of the patrolmen's vehicles after the shooting.

Sunday, a fourth suspect, Cornelius Clark, 28, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice.

"In a city as amazing as Hattiesburg, this is an unfathomable tragedy," said Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg. "Everyone in our community feels this one."

Jennifer Bass, a school resource officer with Hattiesburg Public School District who was with HPD for six years, said she was crushed when she heard of the tragedy that happened just west of the intersection with Bouie Street.

"I'm devastated," she said. "When I heard the news, my heart just dropped. We've all made traffic stops on that street. It could have happened to any of us.

"It's heartbreaking. I've been trying to hold back the tears. It shouldn't have happened."

It hadn't happened in Hattiesburg in more than 30 years, when Jackie Dole Sherrill was shot and killed on New Year's Eve 1984.

"I always hoped that she would be the last," said her daughter, Erica Sherrill Owens, who was a 3-year-old when she lost her mother. "Mother's Day, it's always a tough day, but this, this is worse."

Sherrill Owens said she grew up with Deen, who back in the day wore his hair long and was known to friends as "B.J."

"When I heard that two officers had been shot, I selfishly, immediately thought, 'Oh my God! I hope it's no one I know,' " Sherrill Owens said. "I know it's selfish to think that, because you don't want it to be anybody, but immediately, I'm running the list in my head, and the first name that came to mind was B.J. because I knew he still worked patrol and I grew up with him."

Sickeningly, her worst fears were realized.

"I heard my dad (Charlie Sherrill, a former police officer) on the phone talking to one of his friends and when he got to the last name, my heart just sank," she said. "He was such a good guy, just such a good guy."

And an outstanding policeman. A six-year veteran of the force who also was a K-9 officer, Deen, 34, was named HPD's Officer of the Year in 2012.

He left behind a wife and two young children.

"A lot of my guys worked with him, and he was an outstanding officer," Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said.

Rigel said the past 24 hours have been wrenching for all who carry a badge

"It's a brotherhood, and it just rocks you to the core," he said. "It's not just affecting the Hattiesburg Police Department. It's affecting everybody who serves in this state and in this region, for that matter.

"I mean, you have our territories crossing all the time, so this is just rocking everybody."

Tate, 25, was a graduate of the 16-officer, Hattiesburg Police Academy Class No. 30 in 2014. He earned the class's "Top Shot Proficiency Pistol Award."

Tate had been on patrol for less than a year.

"He was full of faith," Tate's stepfather, Lonnie Ross, told the Clarion-Ledger. "He loved the Lord and that gives us comfort knowing in our faith if you accept Jesus as your savior, this isn't the end, it's the beginning of eternity.

"He had that faith in God, and it was reflected in the way he treated people. He was respectful to everyone that met him, everyone he dealt with in his everyday job. He was always kind to people, and he represented the best in the Hattiesburg Police Department, no doubt about that."

DuPree offered a few more details in the case during a morning news conference at HPD headquarters.

DuPree said Deen had pulled over the vehicle, with Tate responding to a call for backup.

"An assailant exited the car and started shooting," DuPree said.

DuPree said Calloway was the driver of the dark-blue Hyundai Azera Limited with the retired Army military plate.

DuPree was asked to comment on the "erratic" actions of one of the suspects, who commandeered one of the patrolmen's cruisers to flee the scene before abandoning the vehicle a few blocks away near the train tracks at the end of East Front Street.

"The erratic part was the shooting," DuPree said. "The other was trying to get away."

But the mayor declined numerous requests for more information, saying that Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was handling the case.

"They have a task force that actually deals with this kind of incident," he said. "We do that because we want to make sure that we don't do anything to jeopardize the prosecution of these individuals."

DuPree instead praised the cooperation in helping track down the suspects.

"There was one promise that we made the (families), and that was that we were going to find them, we were going to catch them and within hours, we did that," DuPree said. "How did we do that? The public helped us do that and not only did the public help us, but we had law enforcement agencies from the federal government, from the state, from local areas around here — Forrest General Hospital, USM, Lamar County, Forrest County, Petal. If they were within earshot, those officers came."

He also asked that on a Mother's Day missing two sons, the community should unite even further.

"This is a time for us to come together," he said. "This is a time for us to love on each other. These are family members of our community. We want to honor them as family members of our community. We want the family to know that we love them."

And to remember them, while wishing that Saturday night never had happened.

"You don't wish this on anybody, especially when there are kids involved," Sherrill Owens said. "That's two more kids who are going to be told their entire lives that their daddy was a hero, and he was.

"But it doesn't make up for it."

The Clarion-Ledger contributed to this report.

At a glance

Hattiesburg police killed in the line of duty

•Officer Jessie James Everett, killed by gunfire March 9, 1952, while investigating a burglary at Ace Weathers Motor Co.

•Officer M.W. Vinson Jr., killed by gunfire March 9, 1952, while investigating a burglary at Ace Weathers Motor Co.

•Sgt. David Anthony, killed by gunfire May 23, 1973, while responding to an alarm call at Citizens National Bank on Broadway Drive

•Sgt. Jackie Dole Sherrill, killed by gunfire Dec. 31, 1984, while serving a warrant on Eastside Avenue

Memorial Service

•A memorial service for Hattiesburg patrolmen Benjamin J. Deen and Liquori Tate will be held at 1 p.m. today at Lake Terrace Convention Center.

•Hulett-Winstead Funeral Home is handling arrangements for Deen. Arrangements are incomplete.

•Arrangements for Tate have not been announced.