Police ID suspect in killing of US officer
AFP
August 2, 2015, 10:29 pm
US police officials have identified a suspect in the fatal shooting of a Memphis police officer, and an intense search for the man is underway.
Tremaine Wilbourn, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Officer Sean Bolton, 33, on Saturday night, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said at a news conference.
Photo released by the Memphis Police Department shows Tremaine Wilbourn. According to authorities, Wilbourn is a suspect in the fatal shooting of Memphis Police Officer Sean Bolton during a traffic stop. Photo: Memphis Police Department via AP
Bolton had been with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) since October 2010, suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the incident.
Armstrong said Wilbourn was a passenger in a 2002 Mercedes Benz that was parked illegally in a southeast Memphis neighborhood on Saturday night.
Armstrong said Bolton saw the car and shined his squad car's spotlight on the vehicle.
Bolton then got out of his car and walked toward the Mercedes, Armstrong said.
Wilbourn got out of the Mercedes, confronted Bolton, and they got into a physical struggle, Armstrong said.
He then took out a gun and fired it, striking Bolton multiple times, Armstrong said.
Memphis police canvas an area near where Police Officer Sean Bolton was fatally shot during a traffic stop. Photo: AP/Mike Brown
Armstrong said Bolton interrupted a drug deal in progress.
Officers found about 1.7 grams of marijuana inside the car, which likely would have just resulted in a misdemeanor citation and a fine for Wilbourn, Armstrong said.
"He's a coward,you gunned down, you murdered a police officer, for less than 2 grams of marijuana. You literally destroyed a family."
Bolton was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but died of his injuries.
The incident comes just days after a white Ohio policeman who shot a black man during a traffic stop pleaded not guilty to murder charges, the latest in a string of incidents that have heightened racial tensions in the US, particularly in relations between police and black Americans.
There was no immediate suggestion that the fatal Memphis shooting was linked to the Ohio incident or other cases.
Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton told local media: "We ask prayers for the family, we ask prayers for this officer's fellow officers and just for our city as a whole."
