Daily Commentary – Tuesday, May 26, 2015 – New Orleans Police Officer Shot Dead While Parked In Police Cruiser (Update: Officer ID’d as (HANO) Police Officer James Bennett, Jr.)

• The hunt is on for the suspect who shot and killed a New Orleans Housing Authority Officer while on duty 05/24/15

UPDATE I: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office identified the victim Monday as 45 year old James Bennett, Jr. Rest in Peace.

The shooting was reported at 7 a.m. Sunday, the New Orleans Police Department said in a news release. The victim’s car rolled forward and struck a curb after the shooting.

“The death of this HANO police officer is an unspeakable tragedy, and a vile and cowardly act,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement following the officer’s death. “Tragedies that involve our men and women in uniform affect our entire city and touch every member of our law enforcement community. We are deeply saddened by this loss, and our hearts and prayers are with the officer’s friends and family and with the entire HANO family during this very difficult time.”

4th Suspect Cornelius Clark Arrested in the Murders of Mississippi Police Officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate

4TH SUSPECT ARRESTED …

A fourth suspect has been arrested in the shooting deaths of Hattiesburg, MS police officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate. 28 year old Cornelius Clark has been charged with obstruction of justice. Officers Deen, 34, and Tate, 25, were fatally shot during a traffic stop on East Fourth Street in Hattiesburg shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday night. Previously,  Curtis Banks, 26, and Marvin Banks, 29, and Joanie Calloway, 22 were arrested in connection with the murder of the two police officers.

A memorial service for Hattiesburg patrolmen Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Lake Terrace Convention Center.

 Ryan Moore @RyanMooreMS

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.

Idaho Police Officer Sgt. Greg Moore Dies After being Shot by Suspect Jonathan Renfro, Stole Patrol Car & Later Arrested After High Speed Chase

ONCE AGAIN WE WILL ASK THE QUESTION, DO POLICE LIVES MATTER?

Another one of America’s finest dressed in blue has died at the hands of a dirt-bag career criminal. Idaho Police Officer Sgt. Greg Moore has died from his wounds after being shot by 26 year old Jonathan Renfro. The 16 year veteran of the police force was gunned down at approximately 1:35 AM Tuesday after checking on a suspicious person in the 2800 block of Wilbur Ave. in the Sunshine Meadows neighborhood. Renfro was a career criminal and now will either spend the rest of his life in prison or be put to death. Preferably the latter.

Police officers put their lives on the line every day and never know what danger they will face. Around ever corner they face peaceful citizen breaking the law with no dangerous intent and then there are those that have nothing but bad intentions. The overwhelming majority of police officers are fine individuals tasked with protecting and serving their communities. Sgt. Greg Moore was one of those fine police officers, Rest in Peace.

Sgt. Greg Moore, Rest in Peace

A northern Idaho police officer shot by a man who stole his patrol car died of his injuries Tuesday evening, police said.

Sgt. Greg Moore died at 5:50 p.m. local time at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood said in a statement.

Moore was shot about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday after checking on a suspicious person in a neighborhood, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.

Police arrested Jonathan Renfro, 26, after a car chase that reached speeds of 125 mph. The pursuit ended when a police dog dragged the man from his hiding place underneath a commercial truck.

Renfro appeared in court Tuesday afternoon and was charged with attempted murder, theft of a police vehicle, theft of an officer’s gun and being a felon with a gun. Bail was set at $2 million. He was held in the Kootenai County, Idaho, jail.

Moore, a 16-year veteran of the Coeur d’Alene department, called dispatch to get information on Renfro, White said. Not long after, a resident called police.