BAILEY
Daily Journal, wire reports
COLUMBUS – A man was shot to death after fleeing during a traffic stop and leading officers on a high-speed chase that ended in gunfire in Lowndes County.
State Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says a Lowndes County deputy sheriff was shot in the leg, but the wounds are not considered life-threatening.
Strain says the chase started Monday morning near Mathiston and ended when the fleeing vehicle was disabled about 40 miles to the east, near Columbus. He says Mississippi Highway Patrol officers joined sheriff’s department officers from three counties in the pursuit.
Pryor Spencer Bailey IV, 45, of Starkville, was fatally shot after he exited his vehicle and brandished two guns.
The incident began shortly after 10 a.m. when a Webster County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a white Hyundai SUV following a 911 call on suspicion of DUI.
A multi-county, high-speed pursuit ensued. Stop sticks were deployed inside the city of Columbus, but the driver evaded the attempt to stop his vehicle.
More stop sticks were deployed near the intersection of Highways 50 and 82, and the vehicle was stopped. That is when Bailey exited the vehicle with his guns, allegedly shot the deputy and then was himself mortally wounded.
Evidence collected at the scene will be sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis, and Bailey’s body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident.