UPDATE – New Information Released By City In Shumpert Shooting

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) -Mayor Shelton started at the beginning of the events leading up to the shooting.  The car driven by 37 year old Ronnie Shumpert the evening of June 18th was initially spotted at the Town House Motel.  That spot was under surveillance by the Street Crimes Unit because of various complaints.

Police followed the car from the motel, on South Gloster, and into the Lee Acres Subdivision.  Police say a license plate light was not working and the driver, Mr Shumpert, failed to signal for a turn.  The officer flashed his blue lights, then his siren, but Shumpert continued, to Harrison STreet, where he stopped the car, and ran.

A short time later, a K9 named Alec, and his handler, Officer Tyler Cook, tracked Shumpert to a crawl space in the back of 916 Harrison .

“This is where Officer Cook noticed a hand trying to hold the door shut, Officer Cook drew his service weapon, which has a flashlight attached to it, he opened the door, of the crawl space to the home and he saw the suspect, as described by the reporting officer, hiding under the home,” Shelton said.

The mayor says Cook sent the k9 into the crawl space, after Shumpert ignored several commands to come out.  Officials say Shumpert fought with the K9, and came out, tackling Officer Cook, getting on top of the officer, and hitting him in the face and head.

“At this point in the incident, the matter changed from evasion and resisting arrest to an active, unlawful and felonious assault on a police officer,” Shelton said.
That’s when Cook shot Shumpert.

Mayor Shelton also addressed wounds visible to Shumpert’s body in photos taken at a funeral home. Those photos were released by the Shumpert family attorney, who claims the pictures show graphic evidence of a dog attack.

Shelton, and other sources tell WCBI the dog, Alec, is at least 10 years old and has no canine teeth, breaking them off when he tried to chew his way out of a kennel sometime ago.

Also, WCBI has learned there are photos of Shumpert, taken at the scene, which do not show any injury to the front of his mouth.  Instead, sources say Shumpert had a partial denture and the injury shown in Moore’s photos, were likely made during medical procedures as EMTs and doctors worked on Shumpert.

WCBI has also discovered that the backyard of 916 Harrison does have a utility light, but the light has been non operational for sometime, making it tough to see anything in the backyard during the evening hours.

WCBI did talk to a homeowner whose backyard has a clear view of the back of 916 Harrison Street.  The homeowner was at his house the evening of June 18th, but he did not see the incident, however he did hear several gunshots.

Mayor Shelton says it was time to set the record straight.

“We needed to release the true facts of the incident, and then again to ask the public for their calm and patience to let the independent investigation run its course,” Shelton said.

That inquiry is being conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Once that is complete, results of that investigation will be turned over to a Grand Jury.

Tupelo city officials say they likely will have no further comments until the MBI completes its work.

WCBI has also learned that Officer Tyler Cook is receiving some sort of protection due to death threats made against him.  Also, the Police Benevolent Association has retained the Farese Law Firm to represent Cook in a civil suit filed by Moore on behalf of the Shumpert family. The $35 million civil rights lawsuit names the City of Tupelo, Mayor Shelton and Officer Cook as defendants.