Slain Memphis police officer being laid to rest

The shooting death last week of Memphis Police Officer Sean Bolton has done more than cast a pall of grief over Memphis and the Mid-South and contribute to a spate of news headlines and broadcast bulletins.

ANTIOCH, Tenn. (AP) – A man with “significant” psychological issues who was armed with a hatchet and pellet gun unleashed a volley of pepper spray at audience members inside a movie theater Wednesday before being fired at by a police officer and shot dead by a SWAT team as he tried to escape out a back door, police said.

Police say Wilbourn was a passenger in a 2002 Mercedes Benz that was parked illegally and Bolton interrupted a drug deal when he shined a spotlight on the vehicle.

After a two-day manhunt, Wilbourn turned himself in to authorities to face a first-degree murder charge.

Police said Wilbourn took out a gun and shot Bolton multiple times.

Police officers wearing protective vests descended on an apartment complex in southeast Memphis on Sunday, about three miles from the scene of the shooting.

Jason Mendoza, a minister at Woodland Presbyterian Church, said Bolton served as the best man at the wedding of his brother, Brian Bolton, this summer.

The memorial and visitation Wednesday evening will be followed by a funeral service and burial on Thursday for the 33-year-old Bolton. She says that’s when the scuffle escalated.

Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. said Bolton’s death “speaks volumes about the inherent danger of police work” and asked others to “pray for the family and pray for our city”.

Twenty-nine-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn appeared via video link from jail Wednesday morning. His next court date is set for August 12.

Wilbourn, 29, had an earlier conviction for bank robbery. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison and released on probation in July 2014. He was ordered to undergo mental health treatment July 7, according to federal court documents released Monday.

It’s not clear whether Wilbourn was ever evaluated, but his sister said her brother was troubled because he “lived in a box” for so long.

“Lord, lift up Brian and his family”, Mendoza said.