Two Dead, Three Wounded After Standoff in Mississippi Home

by frank

A Mississippi officer was killed and three others were injured during an hours-long standoff Saturday that stemmed from a domestic dispute, according to authorities.
The suspect involved in the standoff, identified as Charles Lee Lambert, 45, was also killed, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

Officers investigate the scene of a shooting near Iuka, Miss., on Feb. 20, 2016. Multiple law enforcement officers were injured after an hourslong standoff in rural north Mississippi ended in fatal gunfire, authorities said. Michael H. Miller / AP

The department said in a statement that deputies with the Tishomingo County Sheriff's Office responded to a "domestic situation" at a home near the rural town Iuka. The situation escalated when the suspect refused to exit the home with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, police said.
          Troopers and agents from Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics then responded, and, after six hours of failed negotiations, entered the home. Police said shots were fired, leaving Lambert and a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Agent, 44-year-old Lee Tartt, dead.
Tartt was a 22-year law enforcement veteran and had been with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics since 2010, according to the department. He was the 2011 MBN Agent of the Year and received the H. Lane Caldwell Award of Valor in 2012.

Mississippi police officer James Lee Tartt is shown in photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Tartt, who worked in an anti-narcotics squad, was killed on Saturday and three officers were wounded in a shootout with a suspect during a standoff in the northeastern corner of the state, according to local media reports. Mississippi Department of Public Safety via Reuters

Tartt also made an unsuccessful bid to become Grenada County sheriff last year, according to NBC affiliate WTVA. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Three state troopers involved in the shootout were also hurt, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. The Associated Press reported that two of the officers had wounds that were not considered life threatening, while the condition of the third injured officer is unknown.
The young girl and the suspect's wife were not injured during the standoff or shootout, authorities said.