OXFORD, Miss — The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) said Thursday they are investigating after Lafayette County deputies shot and killed a man who had reportedly taken a woman and her two teenage children hostage.
The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department said deputies responded to a domestic call to 911 about 9:45 p.m. The MBI said the scene was near Highway 334 in Oxford, Mississippi.
The sheriff's office said 911 dispatchers could hear a man and woman arguing, and the woman kept asking the man to give her the gun. They said deputies arrived to find the woman outside the home. She told deputies her two teenage children, ages 19 and 16, were barricaded in their rooms inside the home.
The sheriff's department said deputies began negotiating with the man to let the teens go and surrender, but at one point, they said he pointed a weapon at deputies, who fired, hitting the suspect. They said he died at the scene.
The teens were safely removed from the home and taken to a safe place.
The MBI said agents are currently gathering evidence and investigating the incident.
The MBI told ABC24 there have been 18 shootings involving officers since July 1, 2022. Of those 18, they said one has been sent to the Attorney General’s office. The rest remain open as ongoing investigations.