Officer Shot Point-Blank in the Face after Grocery Store Robbery

On Saturday night, a Mississippi police officer got shot point-blank in the face after grocery store robbery. Reportedly, Cpl. Derrick Couch of the Clarksdale Police Department was confronting one of the suspects when he was shot in the head.

As of Monday morning, his condition remained critical. Doctors noted that the officer was shot in the eye and the bullet managed to reach the brain.

The police said that CCTV cameras showed that there were two masked suspects. Both of them were recently arrested. One of the two was turned over to the police by his own father. All suspects and the wounded police officer are African-American. The police declined to identify the suspects.

Cpl Couch is currently on life support at the Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee, about 70 miles away from the location of the shooting. He has a wife and a child.

According to his bio, he worked with the narcotics division in Tunica County, and had astounding results over his five year long career at the Clarksdale Police Department.

Fortunately, the Corner Grocery Store in Clarksdale was just across from a police station, so surveillance cameras caught a glimpse of the suspects. Footage shows the hooded suspects leaving the store with their firearms on display.

According to police, two clerks in the store were able to seek shelter through a back door when the robbers entered the store. The suspects took money from a cash register and fled. No other causalities were reported.

Cpl Couch was patrolling the scene after suspicious activity at the store was reported. He saw the fleeing robbers and caught up on one of them four blocks from the crime scene.

The shooting was caught on tape, as well. Mayor Bill Luckett said that he saw the footage and it was ‘harrowing.’ The video shows the officer getting out of the car and approaching one of the armed men. A second later, the robber just swung around and blasted the cop in the face. The blast knocked the officer down. Minutes later, officers dispatched to the scene found him lying on the ground.

On Sunday morning, the first robber was brought to a police station by his own father. Several investigators were sent to the suspect’s home where they reportedly found ‘telling evidence’ that may link the man to both the shooting and grocery store robbery.

A second robber was apprehended Sunday afternoon. Mayor Luckett tweeted a message saying that authorities were ‘working to learn more’ on the case.
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