Police Officer Jacob Otto Wolff

Jacob Otto Wolff

Officer Jacob Wolff was shot and mortally wounded when he and his partner responded to investigate a report of a stolen vehicle at a local tire store on 13th Street.

As the two officers approached the vehicle, one of the three occupants opened fire, striking both officers. Both officers managed to return fire, wounding the shooter. All three escaped in the stolen vehicle. Officer Wolff succumbed to his wounds the next day.

The suspect's body was found a day later in a roadside ditch near Jena, Louisiana. Four months earlier, he had escaped from the Gregg County Jail in Texas, where he was being held on a robbery charge. The next day his two companions were captured in Vidalia, Louisiana.

Officer Wolff had served with the Gulfport Police Department for two years as a full-time officer and eight years as a part-time officer. He was survived by his wife, sister, two nieces, and a nephew.