Officers pumped tear gas into an apartment, then shot and killed a Brookhaven man who emerged firing at them at the end of an hours-long standoff, authorities said Tuesday, reports the Associated Press.
Rudolph "Toby" Smith, 31, died Monday after he shot through his door at an officer who responded to reports that he was threatening other tenants while displaying a gun at the Brookhaven Apartments, according to police.
Brookhaven Police Chief Bobby Bell said officers and Smith's family members tried to communicate with him by phone and text during the standoff, which lasted around six hours. The State Highway Patrol sent its SWAT team.
Brookhaven Police Officer Kenneth Collins was lightly wounded when debris from gunfire hit him, but Bell said he was fine after being bandaged. Warren Strain, a spokesman for Mississippi Department of Public Safety, 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.
Strain says the standoff started because Smith was resisting eviction. When law enforcement appeared on the scene, he began shooting at them.
