Sean Bolton: US police officer fatally shot during a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee
The officer was shot multiple times
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Your support makes all the difference.A police officer has been fatally shot during a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, say US officials, as the manhunt for the suspect gets underway.
The officer was shot multiple times while conducting a traffic stop on Saturday night before dying in hospital, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said during a news conference.
Police have taken a person into custody in connection with the incident. No charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing, Memphis Police Department spokeswoman Karen Rudolph told The Associated Press.
In an earlier statement, Memphis Police identified the officer killed as 33-year-old Sean Bolton, although at this stage no further details have been released.
Director Armstrong said police haven't made an arrest and the suspect is on the run, and that police are using all available resources to find the shooter. Armstrong and the Mayor of Memphis spoke to the media before the name of the deceased officer was released.
This is the third Memphis officer to be fatally shot in slightly more than four years. Officer Tim Warren was killed while responding to a shooting at a downtown Memphis hotel in July 2011. In December 2012, Officer Martoiya Lang was killed while serving a warrant.
Armstrong said officers are grieving, adding that "this is just a reminder of how dangerous" the job is.
"Sadly to say, we've been here before," he said.
Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. told reporters Saturday that the incident "speaks volumes about the inherent danger of police work."
"Pray for the family and pray for our city," Wharton Jr. continued.
This news is likely to add to calls for reforms on gun control in the United States, with the Mayor of Memphis using the incident as evidence that there "are so many guns on [the] the street in the wrong hands."
President Obama has also been highlighting the need for greater gun control in America: "If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100."
"If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands,” Obama said during an interview with the BBC before his recent visit to Kenya.