Police shoot, kill teenager who led them on chase in stolen vehicle

Published 10:40 am Thursday, April 2, 2020

Columbus man killed by officer after chase in stolen vehicle
COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — A police chief in northeast Mississippi says a 19-year-old man has been shot to death by an officer after a chase in a stolen vehicle.

Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant identified the dead man as Austin Hines of Columbus, the Commercial Dispatch reported.

A news release from the Columbus Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department says deputies began chasing a man who was driving a stolen vehicle Wednesday. The release says city police assisted in the chase, and it ended when the man wrecked the vehicle. The man was shot after he got out of the vehicle.

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During a news conference Wednesday, Police Chief Fred Shelton declined to say whether police officers or deputies shot Hines. But, the chief said one police officer was put on paid administrative leave.

Hines was arrested in February and charged with felony taking of a motor vehicle, assault on a law enforcement officer and felony escape, WCBI-TV reported.

He also said two passengers were in the stolen vehicle, and they were being questioned by Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officers. MBI investigates officer-involved shootings.

The chief deputy sheriff, Brent Swan, said no law enforcement officers were injured.