Jackson Free Press

JACKSON — The struggle between Jackson Police Det. Eric Smith and a murder suspect lasted three to four minutes, JPD officials said this morning.

For the first time since the fatal April 4 shooting inside JPD headquarters, police officials talked to reporters to shed new light on the sequence of events that left Smith and 23-year-old suspect Jeremy Powell dead.

Chief Rebecca Coleman said that at about 5:40 p.m., Smith and another detective were wrapping up an interrogation on the third floor when Powell overpowered and took Smith's service weapon, a Glock 17 9-mm.

One of Powell's arms was handcuffed. Assistance Police Chief Lee Vance said that detectives commonly remove restraints to help suspects relax during questioning.

During the fight, the other detective in the room fired one shot at the suspect, but when her gun apparently malfunctioned, she left the room to get backup, police said.

Powell had not been booked at that point, but once it became clear that he would be charged with the stabbing death of 20-year-old Christopher Alexander, Vance said he believes Powell decided to commit "suicide-by-cop."

"It appeared to me that he had made up his mind that he wasn’t going to jail," Vance said, adding that a video of the incident reveals that Powell stated as much three times.

Powell shot Smith four times before shooting himself twice in the head, according to media reports. Officials did not have details on how much time transpired between Powell's arrest and when the situation deteriorated.

Since the shooting, police have been silent on the question of whether Smith violated department protocols by taking his gun into an interrogation.

Coleman addressed the question this morning, saying: "The Jackson Police Department's preliminary internal affairs investigation reveals that there were no policy violations as it relates to having weapons in the interview room."

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the investigation, which could take up to two more weeks to complete. A funeral for Smith was held over the weekend at Jackson State University.