The Mississippi woman who shot to death two cops in a hotel parking lot was identified Thursday as a 43-year-old veterinarian and mother — and she pulled the trigger in front of her young daughter, police said Thursday.
Amy Brogdon Anderson, of Ocean Springs, is accused of opening fire while sitting with her 10-year-old daughter in her SUV outside Motel 6 in Bay St. Louis after police called child protective services at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, according to wlox.com.
Anderson — who had no criminal history and was reportedly well-liked in the community — had spent 30 minutes speaking to Sgt. Steven Robin, 34, and officer Branden Estorffe, 23, before flipping out and gunning them down, according to Bay St. Louis police.
Robin was pronounced dead at the scene and Estorffe was rushed to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, where he later died.
Anderson was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Amy Anderson is accused of shooting to death two cops in Mississippi.
Police said they believe the troubled mother fatally shot herself — but one of the officers also fired a shot, so an autopsy will determine the cause of death, wtok.com reported.
Anderson’s daughter, whose name has not been released, was not injured.
“A tragedy occurred here today in the city of Bay St. Louis as two of our finest officers’ lives were taken,” Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said at a press conference Thursday morning. “We are gathering facts and will ensure a thorough investigation into this matter.”
He said he was “not here to discuss the details of yesterday’s tragedy” but rather to honor the lives of “two heroes that sacrificed their lives for the good of society.”
According to her Facebook page, Anderson recently started working as an emergency veterinarian with a focus on small animals at the 24-hour animal hospital MedVet Mobile.
“I wanted to be a veterinarian since I was old enough to know what it was,” she told the Vicksburg Post after graduating from Mississippi State University in 2005. “What it takes is good people skills…I use that a lot more than what I learned in vet school.”
She has also worked at th Lakeview Animal Hospital in D’Iberville, Mississippi, she wrote her Facebook account, which notes she is “single” and is filled with happy photos of her children, pets and traveling.
In April, she wrote about a fun-filled vacation with her kids to Maui.
“The kids and I checked another big item off of our bucket list, and we had the most amazing vacation with some added education in Maui, Hawaii!!” she wrote. “It was without a doubt the most beautiful place we’ve ever been, and we packed as much adventure, fun, hysterical laughs and memories as we could in 6 days.”
Before things escalated on Thursday, the police officers had confronted Anderson for a welfare check, cops said.
A vigil for the fallen cops was scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, said Amy Anderson
This is a very sad situation, and our deepest thoughts and condolences go out to the families of our lost officers,” Favre said.
The police officers had confronted Anderson for a welfare check before things escalated, cops said.
Other details about the state of Anderson’s young daughter were not immediately known Thursday.
