Hancock man warned he wasn’t going back to prison before shooting agent, complaint says
A Hancock County man accused of shooting and injuring a Harrison County deputy assigned to the U.S. Marshal’s task force is facing three federal charges.
Joseph Dale Sonnier, 31, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with assaulting an officer in the line of duty, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in connection with a violent crime.
Sonnier was arrested Tuesday after shooting and injuring the federal agent outside Siegel Select Hotel in Gautier.
He was on parole, having just got out state prison on March 9 after serving 7 years of a 20-year sentence for burglary, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections..
After his arrest, Sonnier told authorities he had no intention of being taken into custody alive.
He said he’d gone to visit his mother to tell her he knew he was wanted but wasn’t going to go back to prison and wanted her to know he didn’t want to be buried because he didn’t want his body “in a box.”
According to the complaint, the shooting happened Tuesday shortly after four officers showed up at the hotel to arrest Sonnier on warrants out of Hancock County for kidnapping.
Sonnier said he was woken up from a nap when he heard the officers knock on the door of the hotel room.
Authorities said he grabbed a .45-caliber pistol from a bag he had in the room and carried it with him to the bathroom.
Sonnier, the records say, told the woman who was with him to answer the door.
He said he was sitting on the bathroom floor when he starting firing at the officers, but said he never meant to hurt anyone.
After shooting the officer, Sonnier tossed the gun outside the hotel room and was taken into custody.
The federal agent who was injured was taken to Ocean Springs Hospital for non life-threatening injuries, treated and released.
The investigation is ongoing.
