Dennis residents shaken up after officer involved shooting

TISHOMINGO COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- The search is on for a person of interest in an officer involved shooting out of Tishomingo County.

A vehicle’s busted taillight, a broken gas cap and orange paint used to mark evidence and location of vehicles, are stark reminders of what happened on a road next to Joel Cemetery in Tishomingo County Thursday evening.

Investigators say a Tishomingo County Sheriff’s deputy and Belmont Police Officer had stopped a black Dodge single cab pickup in the area of County Road 35.

Investigators say the truck’s driver rammed the sheriff’s vehicle, then pointed an assault rifle at officers and began firing.

Officers returned fire, hitting the suspect’s car.

The suspect fled the scene. Luckily, no officer was injured, but a nearby resident heard all the commotion.

“I hear some cracks, coming from about Immanuel Baptist Church. I didn’t know what it was, sounded like an automatic weapon, where I am at, kind of makes sense, but I didn’t know why anybody would be firing that late. Not unusual to hear gunfire around here but I knew it was odd cause I knew it was an automatic weapon. I just figured someone was out late doing stupid stuff,” said Andrew Slayton.

The sheriff’s department is looking Brian Turner.

Brian Turner is described as a person of interest in the case. He lives in the Tishomingo area.

There was a steady police presence throughout the area as leads were tracked down and investigated.

People who live in the tiny town of Dennis say, stuff like this just doesn’t happen here.

“Yeah, this is the biggest thing that’s happened here since the tornadoes came through,” said Slayton.

Authorities confirm Turner has prior drug related convictions.

Anyone with information is asked to call police or 911.