Memphis, Tenn., police are searching for Tremaine Wilbourn, 29, in the fatal shooting of Officer Sean Bolton after the officer reportedly interrupted a small-time drug deal.
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According to the Associated Press, Wilbourn has been identified as a suspect and faces a first-degree-murder charge in the 33-year-old officer's death.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong told those gathered at a news conference late Saturday evening that Wilbourn was a passenger in a 2002 Mercedes-Benz that was parked illegally. Bolton approached the car, and Wilbourn and the officer got into a physical altercation, Armstrong said. Wilbourn pulled a weapon and shot the officer several times, Armstrong said, according to AP.
Bolton died later that evening at the hospital.
Wilbourn and the driver fled the scene, but the newswire reports that the driver turned himself in to police. The driver is not a suspect but has been called a "person of interest," according to AP, and was released.
Bolton reportedly interrupted a drug deal that would have resulted only in a misdemeanor citation had it been discovered. Armstrong said that officers found 1.7 grams of marijuana inside the car, AP reports.
"He's a coward," Armstrong said of Wilbourn. "You gunned down, you murdered a police officer, for less than 2 grams of marijuana. You literally destroyed a family."
Read more at the Associated Press.
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