Video: Corinth Police Officer Injured in the Line of Duty

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CORINTH, Miss. (WCBI) — Corinth Police Officer Kevin Parker, Jr. is in stable condition after being shot early Wednesday morning by a suspect who is still on the loose.

Parker is fairly new to the police force and is also a national guardsman.

The Corinth Police Department has nothing put praise for the young man that put his life on the line to keep his city safe.

Corinth Police Chief Ralph Dance said he hopes the officer can recover quickly because he is “a fine officer” and that he is “very proud of him”.

At around 2:30 a.m., Corinth police responded to a call about a suspicious person on Bell School Road.

During an increased patrol, Officer Parker returned to the scene around 4:30 a.m. to check in on the woman who called earlier.

That’s when he came across the suspect.

Chief Dance says Parker nearly hit the man with his vehicle after he came out from the side of the road.

Parker repeatedly told him to stop but he refused.

Parker then drew his service weapon, and the man attacked, wrestling the officer for his gun and shooting him twice in the chest and shoulder.

“Luckily, he was wearing his vest,” said Dance. “They were newly purchased, we just bought two months ago and the bullet was stopped from penetrating his chest. He does have a severe bruise on his chest and a small puncture but the vest did its job and saved his life.”

The bulletproof vests that were purchased by the Corinth Police Department were sold by Officer Parker’s father, Kevin Parker, Sr., who is a police equipment seller in Tupelo.

Dance also offered heavy praise for Mayor Tommy Irwin and the local government for their quick response to his request for bulletproof vests.

Local residents also said they can’t believe something like this would happen in a generally quiet side of town.

“We’d never expect this,” said Paul Pendergrast, who lived about 40 yards from where the incident occurred. “We have a good neighborhood here. It’s always patrolled. It’s really surprising to find out something like this has happened.”

Corinth police says the suspect is described as a 5’9″, 250 lb. black male wearing dark clothes and a backpack.

Chief Dance also told WCBI that Officer Parker hesitated when he encountered the suspect because he didn’t want to make the news or have a Ferguson-like situation.