Brookhaven Police officer hit during standoff at apartment complex

The standoff ended at around midnight when Smith died.

Authorities have not said if the man was shot by police or killed himself.

“When the officer walked up to the door, he (Smith) just started firing”, said Bobby Bell, police chief in Brookhaven, a town of 12,000 people about 50 miles south of Jackson. He then barricaded himself in the apartment, where he continued to shoot out a bedroom window.

Chief Bell says Smith was killed when a MBI SWAT team stormed his apartment to end the standoff. A woman who answered the phone Tuesday at the management office declined to comment. Authorities said they tried to reason with him, but their attempts didn’t work.

Witnesses at the scene reported hearing a lot of gunfire and electricity in the area was cut off.

More shots have been fired at the Brookhaven Apartments.

Bell said his agency has not dealt with Smith in the past that he knows of.

“I don’t think it was a self-inflicted wound”, Bell said.

If someone came to his back door, they would fall in the hole, and he would have a clear shot of them from his back door.

Police say they were called to the scene at around 6 pm after Smith was threatening other residents. Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said he wasn’t immediately aware if his agency has a past with Smith or not, but that he’s looking into his history. It was unclear whether the officer was wounded by gunfire or hit by shrapnel. Strain said a Mississippi Highway Patrol officer had a piece of glass hit his eye when a shot hit a bullet-resistant windshield on an armored vehicle.

Inside investigators say they found four guns, and plenty of ammo.