Sergeant Kevin "Gale" Stauffer, Jr.

Kevin "Gale" Stauffer, Jr.

Sergeant Gale Stauffer was shot and killed as he and two other officers responded to a bank robbery on South Gloster Street, near the intersection with Main Street, at approximately 3:00 pm.

As the officers approached the suspect, who was stopped in traffic at a railroad crossing, the man opened fire on them at close range. Sergeant Stauffer was shot and killed and a second officer was critically wounded before the man fled in a vehicle.

A citizen used one of the officers' radios to alert dispatchers that the officers had been shot. The wounded officer was transported to a local hospital in guarded condition.

Investigation linked the suspect to a bank robbery earlier that morning in Atlanta, Georgia. On Saturday, December 28th, the suspect was shot and killed after robbing another bank in Phoenix, Arizona, and opening fire on a responding officer. As the suspect shot at the officer a responding detective approached from the side and fatally shot him.

Sergeant Stauffer was a combat veteran of the Louisiana Army National Guard. He had served with the Tupelo Police Department for eight years and was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant. He had previously served with the Lee County Sheriff's Office for one year.

Sergeant Stauffer is survived by his wife and two young children.