‘It’s heartbreaking’: Police officer shot, killed while responding to call

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WBRC/Gray News) - A police officer in Mississippi has been shot and killed in the line of duty.

WBRC reports Meridian Police Officer Kennis Croom, a Tuscaloosa native, was killed while responding to a domestic situation Thursday afternoon.

Tuscaloosa Police Department Chief Sebo Sanders called the news of Croom’s death devastating. He said Croom interned at the department while he was in college and showed an interest in getting into law enforcement.

“It’s sad; I’m very sad. And it’s heartbreaking when you have a young man who all his life wanted to be in law enforcement. He was more like a nephew to me,” Sanders said.

The police department offered condolences to Croom’s friends, family and fellow Meridian police officers.

Officer Croom’s family asked on social media that in lieu of flowers, all donations be made to... — Officer Croom’s family asked on social media that in lieu of flowers, all donations be made to the Croom Foundation.(Family of Kennis Croom)

Croom had been with the Meridian Police Department since October 2021.

On Friday, authorities were able to arrest Dante Bender in connection to the officer’s shooting. Bender was taken into custody about 80 miles outside of Meridian.

Dante Bender was arrested in the killing of Meridian police officer Kennis Croom. — Dante Bender was arrested in the killing of Meridian police officer Kennis Croom. (U.S. Marshals Service)

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