CLARKSDALE, Miss. — An officer with the Clarksdale Police Department was shot Saturday evening, Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said.
Luckett said the officer was shot in the head.
He was flown to Regional Medical Center and is on a ventilator in critical condition, Luckett said. Doctors are still trying to extract the bullet.
The officer was identified Sunday as Cpl. Derrick Couch.
Memphis Police officers, including Interim Director Michael Rallings, were at Regional Medical Center on Saturday night when he arrived.
The shooting happened when Couch was responding to an armed robbery at the Corner Grocery at the corner of Second Street and Sunflower Avenue, Luckett said.
Two men robbed the store and left, according to the mayor. Police were called; they put out a suspect description, and officers started searching for the robbers.
Couch saw one of the men on First Street and Leflore Avenue, a few blocks away from the Corner Grocery, and went to stop him, Luckett said. The suspect shot him and then ran away.
The Clarksdale Police Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation released footage of two robbery suspects who may be connected to the shooting.
Police also have footage of the shooting, but that video was not released.
“I’ve seen the video. It’s harrowing,” Luckett said. “As soon as the officer approached him, he just swung around and, bam!”
Sunday afternoon, Luckett said the shooting suspect’s father turned him in to the police.
This is a developing story.