One officer was killed and two others were wounded in a shootout in Summit on Thursday afternoon. The gunman died in a hail of bullets as officers returned fire.
Summit officer Troy Floyd died at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, while McComb officers Joey Roberts and Tyler Harvey were wounded.
Roberts was wounded in his upper right leg and was able to return fire, authorities said. The extent of Harvey’s injuries weren’t known, but the Mississippi Department of Public Safety described the wound as non-life-threatening.
The confrontation reportedly occurred at a Summit police checkpoint near West Railroad Avenue when the gunman, who has yet to be identified, drew a weapon on Floyd. Roberts, Harvey and other officers responded to the scene and engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. One other person, a female, was taken into custody.
Authorities have not released the name of the gunman or the other suspect.
Highway 51 and West Railroad Avenue were blocked off as a massive police presence descended on the small town. Town hall went into lockdown, and police told residents and businesses to lock their doors.
A resident who lives near Piggly Wiggly said he heard gunshots while eating lunch. Shortly thereafter, police surrounded the area and told people to go inside and lock the doors.
People at the scene heard another series of gunshots as more police and emergency services were arriving.
Officers said the area surrounding Baldwin Street, West Railroad Avenue and Robb Street was an active crime scene. Vehicle traffic and pedestrians were advised to stay away from the area.
Roberts was treated and released at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb. He walked out of the hospital about 3:15 p.m, about two hours after the shooting occurred.
“Just a little through-and-through,” Roberts said, pointing to his upper right leg as he left the emergency room, clad in a red Ole Miss T-shirt and blue shorts.
One of his relatives asked, “Can you go back to being a fireman now?” Roberts responded that was a more dangerous job.
Floyd was a veteran law enforcement officer whose career stretched back to the 1990s. He was a former K-9 officer under former Sheriff Fred Johnson and also worked for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department under sheriffs Lynn Boyte and Steve Rushing.
Floyd had also worked for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
He was hired as a full-time officer in Summit a couple of months ago, and Police Chief Alex Miller said at the time he had high hopes for Floyd because of his lengthy law enforcement experience.
“He made every round,” Rushing said of Floyd’s vast law enforcement career.
Rushing and a contingency of Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies joined officers from McComb, Summit, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Highway Patrol under the breezeway of the emergency room entrance of Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.
“He loved law enforcement. He loved people. He was a great guy, all around guy. There wasn’t but one Troy,” Rushing said.
The officers formed prayer circles outside of the emergency room doors and lined the hallway, standing at attention as Roberts exited the hospital and Floyd’s family entered.
The shooting is the first time an officer died in the line of duty in Pike County since sheriff’s investigator Tommy Daughdrill was shot on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1992.
A troubled 15-year-old boy whom the officer was trying to arrest after a burglary killed Daughdrill with a shotgun. Magnolia police officer Robert “Tot” Lawson, a former sheriff, was wounded as well.
