Chief quotes dying officer

‘Brookhaven, I’m going down’

BROOKHAVEN, MISS. • A mortally wounded Mississippi police officer who was shot on duty called out with his dying breath: “Brookhaven, I’m going down,” his funeral heard Thursday.

Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins spoke at the funeral of Cpl. Zach Moak, 31, who was one of two officers slain early Saturday in the city of 12,000. Moak and officer James White, 35, were gunned down while responding to reports of shots fired at a home in Brookhaven, which is about 95 kilometres south of the state capital of Jackson.

“Even when he was mortally wounded, he did not think of himself,” Collins said of Moak. “He went toward officer James White and he was pulling him out of the line of fire to safety. And with his final breath, he called, ‘Brookhaven, I’m going down.’ There is no love greater than to give your life for another.”

Hundreds of people, including many law enforcement officers in uniform, packed Brookhaven’s Easthaven Baptist Church for Moak’s funeral Thursday and for White’s on Wednesday.

“In every corner of this state, there are Mississippians praying for you,” Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves told Moak’s family during the service.

Outside the church, officers saluted as Moak’s casket, draped in an American flag, was put into a hearse.

Police say Marquis Flowers, 25, shot the two Brookhaven officers. Flowers had a series of previous felony convictions and was free on bail at the time of the shooting. He has been hospitalized and has not been charged, and it’s not clear whether he is represented by an attorney. Police have questioned others, but it’s unclear if they will pursue charges against anyone else.

A funeral for another law enforcement officer was being held Thursday in north Mississippi. A state trooper, Kenneth “Josh” Smith, 32, of Walnut, Miss., was shot to death early Sunday while offduty. Smith died in an isolated area near the Hatchie River, southeast of Walnut.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who started his own career as a deputy sheriff, was attending Smith’s funeral in Corinth.

“He is another fallen hero we tragically lost during the last week,” Bryant said in a statement. “These attacks on our law enforcement must stop. Please pray for his family and friends.”

Troy Anthony Eaton, 43, of Rienzi, Miss., surrendered to authorities Sunday and was charged Monday with capital murder in Smith’s death and aggravated assault in the shooting of Rickie Dale Vick, 38, of Michigan City, Mississippi. Vick survived.