Officer who responded to shooting discovers her own son dead

Hazelhurst police have handed the investigation over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation

Hazlehurst Police Department officer Laquandia Cooley (WLBT-TV)

A police officer who responded to the scene of a shooting in Mississippi at the weekend reportedly discovered the body of her 20-year-old son.

The Hazlehurst Police Department was called to the scene of a shooting in the city at about 2am on Sunday, and a body was reported in the road.

Police chief Darian Murray said an officer who was called to the shooting was the mother of the victim, as WLBT reported.

“We initially responded to the call, not knowing when I made it over there, the person was going to be my son that was laying there,” Laquandia Cooley reportedly said of her son, Charles Stewart Jr.

“As we get out, I look and I was like, ‘This is my son, this is my son.’ So, I literally just go into a break down you know? Like, why? Who would do this to my son?”

No suspect has been identified in the shooting of the 20-year-old, who social media posts suggested was an avid basketball player.

“I couldn’t even believe what I was seeing,” the mother and Hazlehurst police officer continued. “I was seeing my own son laying there on the ground dead. It was pretty much a panic. It was just, it was too much”.

Darius Stewart, a cousin, also took to Facebook to write a tribute and shared images of the victim.

While an autopsy is due, police chief Murray said it appeared that Charles died of a gunshot wound to the head, as WLOX reported. No further details were made available.

His father Charles Stewart told reporters that his 20-year-old was a good person and that his death was “traumatizing for the whole family.”

“We’re just trying to cope day to day. Just trying to figure out why this happened and who could have did this,” he told WLBT.

Mr Murray said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation because it involved the son of an officer.