Five law enforcement officers shot; one suspect arrested

FRIARS POINT, Miss. -- Five law enforcement officers were shot during a bloody 36-hour saga that ended Sunday morning with the arrest of one man in the small Mississippi Delta town of Friars Point.

Mayor Herbert Thomas said none of the five officers was killed, and the man suspected in all five shootings -- as well as in the shooting of a man on Friday -- was in custody.

Friars Point Police Chief Anthony Smith had been trying to arrest Patrick Harper in connection with that Friday night shooting when the chief was shot in the neck on Saturday, allegedly by Harper, Thomas said.

After the police chief was shot, officers from the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department were called in and tracked Harper to a nearby home in Friars Point, 200 miles northwest of Jackson.

As officers tried to enter the one-story, ramshackle home just after midnight Sunday, gunshots rang out, and both Friars Point officer John Martin-Harris and sheriff's deputy Victor Randle were shot, Thomas said.

Around 3 a.m., officers wearing bulletproof vests and armed with shields used a battering ram to bust through the door, said Mississippi Department of Corrections officer Kenny Scott.

Scott was hit in the thigh, and sheriff's deputy Neal Mitchell was also wounded.

Around 5:30 a.m., Harris called from inside the home and the officers discovered that the suspect had slipped away. An hour later, about 6:30 a.m., about 80 officers had Harper's grandmother's home surrounded with Harper inside. After two more hours of negotiations, Harper surrendered, Thomas said.

He was being held at the Coahoma County jail.

Patrick Parker, who owned the home where the officers were shot, was also taken into custody because he had earlier denied knowing where Harper was, Thomas said.

A trail of blood leading to a blood-streaked police cruiser was outside the house Sunday afternoon as the Mississippi Highway Patrol investigated inside.

It wasn't immediately clear what had led to the shooting Friday night of the Friars Point resident, Doyle Hunter. He was shot in the face and shoulder and remained hospitalized Sunday, said his cousin, Teanna Bell.

Officials said Harper was in custody Sunday, but it was unclear where he was being held. The Coahoma County Sheriff's Department had not released charges Sunday. Phone messages left for Sheriff Andrew Thompson were not immediately returned.