Crime

Officer’s gun went off in Motel 6 shooting that killed 2 from Bay PD, official says

The head of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said Wednesday afternoon that authorities now have determined one of the two Bay St. Louis police officers gunned down in the line of duty that morning managed to discharge his firearm during an encounter with their killer.

The two officers, Bay St. Louis police Sgt. Steven Robin, 34, and Officer Branden Estorffe, 23, died after responding to a report of a welfare concern at Motel 6 on Highway 90.

The police officers got to the scene around 4:30 a.m. and parked near a brown Toyota Highlander occupied by the shooter, identified as Amy Brogdon Anderson, 43.

Robin and Estorffe spent about a half hour talking to Anderson in the SUV she was in with a child under the age of 10. The shooting started shortly after the police officers made a call to Child Protective Services.

Robin died at the scene, and Estorffe died a short time later.

Early on, MBI and MDPS commissioner Sean Tindell said Anderson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest in the driver’s seat of her car.

Since then, Tindell said, investigators found that one of the police officer’s service weapon discharged during the encounter.

Though it is believed that Anderson killed herself, Tindell said, authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy and other evidence to confirm the woman committed suicide or otherwise.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation examines in the inside of a Bay St. Louis police car outside of Motel 6 on Dec. 14, 2022. Two Bay police officers were shot and killed while responding to call there.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation examines in the inside of a Bay St. Louis police car outside of Motel 6 on Dec. 14, 2022. Two Bay police officers were shot and killed while responding to call there. Hannahh Ruhoff hruhoff@sunherald.com
From left, Sgt. Steven Robin and officer Branden Estorffe were killed in the line of duty Wednesday morning when they responded to a calla at Motel 6.
From left, Sgt. Steven Robin and officer Branden Estorffe were killed in the line of duty Wednesday morning when they responded to a calla at Motel 6. Courtesy of Hancock County Sheriff's Office
Authorities examine a Toyota SUV in the parking lot of Motel 6 on Dec. 14, 2022, after two Bay St. Louis police officers were killed while responding to a call.
Authorities examine a Toyota SUV in the parking lot of Motel 6 on Dec. 14, 2022, after two Bay St. Louis police officers were killed while responding to a call.

This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 3:30 PM.

Margaret Baker
Sun Herald
Margaret is an investigative reporter whose search for truth exposed corrupt sheriffs, a police chief and various jailers and led to the first prosecution of a federal hate crime for the murder of a transgendered person. She worked on the Sun Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Hurricane Katrina team. When she pursues a big story, she is relentless.
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