Two Police Officers Have Been Shot in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Update: Both Officers, Benjamin Deen & Liquori Tate Confirmed Dead)(Update: Suspects: Curtis Banks, Marvin Banks & Joanie Calloway Arrested)

IT HAS BECOME OPEN SEASON ON OUR MEN IN BLUE … TWO MORE POLICE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN SHOT IN HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI …

Two police officers have been shot in the line of duty in Hattiesburg, MS Saturday night in what began as a routine traffic stop. Sadly, it became much more violent as two police officers were gunned down. The two were taken to the hospital where later Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict confirmed the deaths of officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate.

We have said this over and over at SM, that for police officers, there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop. A police officer never knows when they approach a vehicle, especially at night, who or what they are about to encounter when they pull some one over. With what happened in Hattiesburg, Mississippi is exactly why police act like they do when they approach a vehicle.

UPDATE I: Police Officers Identified as officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate.

Officer Benjamin Deen, left, and Officer Liquori Tate (HATTIESBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT)

The two Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers that were murdered Saturday night following what was supposed to be a routine police stop were  34-year-old Benjamin Deen and 25-year-old Liquori Tate. One, was a great police officer and the other, a rookie to the force.  Deen as a past department “Officer of the Year” and Tate as a newcomer.  Tate was a recent graduate from the police academy who posted on his Facebook page that he graduated June 11 and thanked all who made it possible.

Tate graduated South Pike High School and attended Southwest Mississippi Community College before joining the Hattiesburg Police Department.

Deen, 34, was a K-9 officer. He was named HPD Officer of the Year in 2012.

UPDATE II: 2 Mississippi officers fatally shot; 3 suspects arrested.

Authorities arrested Curtis Banks, 26, and Marvin Banks, 29, and Joanie Calloway, 22, early Sunday morning. They were taken to Troop J of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, where they were to be questioned by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Marvin Banks was charged with two counts of capital murder, grand theft auto, and a felon in possession of a firearm; Joanie Calloway was charged with two counts of capital murder; and Curtis Banks was charged with accessory after the fact of capital murder.

Three suspects were arrested Sunday after two police officers were shot and killed during a traffic stop in Hattiesburg, Miss. Two of the suspects were charged with capital murder.

Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict confirmed that both officers had died at Forrest General Hospital. Benedict identified the officers as Benjamin Deen, 34, of the Sumrall area and Liquori Tate, 25, of Hattiesburg.

Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. said Marvin Banks, 29, and Joanie Calloway, 22, were each charged with two counts of capital murder.

Banks was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was also charged with grand theft for fleeing in the police cruiser after the shooting, Strain said.

“He absconded with a Hattiesburg police cruiser. He didn’t get very far, three or four blocks and then he ditched that vehicle,” Strain said.

Banks’ 26-year-old brother, Curtis Banks, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of capital murder.