Police identified the woman who shot and killed two cops in the parking lot of a hotel in Mississippi on December 15 as a 43-year-old mother of three who worked as a veterinarian. Police said she gunned the police officers down in front of her eight-year-old daughter.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations identified Amy Brogdon Anderson, from Ocean Springs, as the woman who opened fire on the two officers and shot them dead outside Motel 6 in Bay St. Louis before allegedly turning the gun on herself. Her eight-year-old daughter was in Anderson’s car at the time of the shooting.
Anderson, who was reportedly well-liked in the community and had no criminal record, had parked her SUV in the hotel’s parking lot when the two police officers from the Bay St. Louis Police Department arrived at the location. The officers, who were responding to a welfare check, arrived at around 4:30 am on Thursday and interrogated the woman in her car, questioning why she and her daughter were there in the middle of the night. A witness at the hotel said that they had been called by the hotel staff, after Anderson had told them to call the police because she believed someone was trying to kill her.
Sgt. Steven Robin and Officer Branden Estorffe, both 23, talked to Anderson for about a half hour before she flipped and gunned them down. During their conversation, one of the officers called Child Protective Services.
First responders rushed Officer Estorffe to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, and he succumbed to his wounds a few hours later. Authorities pronounced Officer Robin dead at the scene.
Police found the shooter, Anderson, dead with a gunshot wound to her chest.
Although police believe that the 43-year-old woman shot herself, the officers fired their weapons before they died, so an autopsy report will determine the woman’s cause of death. The eight-year-old girl, whose identity has not been released, was not injured during the deadly attack.
Toby Schwartz, Bay St. Louis Police Chief, expressed his sadness at the tragedy during a press conference on Thursday. He announced that two of the finest police officers in Bay St. Louis had been killed and that the department was still gathering information to ensure a thorough investigation.
According to Anderson’s Facebook page, she had recently joined MedVet Mobile, a 24-hour animal hospital, as an emergency veterinarian focusing on small animals.
In 2005, Anderson spoke to the Vicksburg Post, saying she had always dreamed about becoming a veterinarian. She had worked in veterinary offices in Vicksburg, Ocean Springs, and Gulfport.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves consoled the families of the fallen officers, saying he was heartbroken by the terrible loss. He added that police officers put their lives at risk every day through selfless sacrifices for their community, which was why the community could freely and safely live.
Bay St. Louis Mayor Mike Favre also consoled the victims’ families and asked the community to pray for their families and the Bay St. Louis Police Department.