HATTIESBURG, Miss. — A ninth person has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two Mississippi police officers who were killed during a traffic stop earlier this month, authorities said.
Spokesman Warren Strain with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said in a statement Wednesday night that 25-year-old Brodrick Kendell Varnado of Hattiesburg was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact of capital murder.
No further details about the allegations against Varnado were immediately available.
Strain says Varnado was being held in the Forrest County jail awaiting an initial court appearance. It wasn't clear if Varnado has a lawyer who could comment on the charge.
An eighth suspect, Jimmy "Jimbo" Velton Brady, 22, was arrested in the case May 15 and charged with possession of a stolen weapon, Strain said. Strain declined to release details of the charge or how it related to the shooting. Brady was being held in lieu of $20,000 bond.
Strain said the state's investigation remained ongoing but declined to give further details.
Police say 29-year-old Marvin Banks shot Hattiesburg Police Department patrolmen Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate on May 9 after Deen pulled over a speeding car driven by Banks' girlfriend. The officers died at a hospital. Banks is being held without bail on two counts of capital murder. He also was charged with grand larceny and possession of a weapon by a felon.