Hancock deputies kill man suspected in fatal shooting during Hurricane Ida
Hancock County sheriff’s deputies shot a man after traveling through Hurricane Ida’s floodwaters to a report of a person shot and killed at a home in Pearlington in the early-morning hours Monday, Deputy Chief Jeremy Skinner said.
The fatal police shooting happened after Hancock County deputies first received a 911 report of someone shot and killed in the elevated home on Kelly Road off Old Highway 90 somewhere between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., Skinner said.
When deputies got there, Skinner said, they came into contact with the suspected shooting suspect and deputies shot and killed the man.
It’s unclear if there was an exchange of gunfire, but Skinner said he was unable to discuss any other details because the police shooting has been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations for an independent probe.
The home in Pearlington is on stilts but because of flood waters and storm surge from Hurricane Ida, deputies couldn’t get to the home in patrol cars or police SUVs. They used a boat and high-water rescue vehicles to get there.
MBI agents are on the scene, but the area is still unreachable by cars or pickup trucks due to the high flood waters.
Acting Hancock County Coroner Derek Turnage is checking with MBI investigators before any of the identities of those who died is released.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 3:28 PM.
