WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MAY 15, 2020

WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MAY 15, 2020

Good evening and thank you for joining us.

A shootout in oxford leaves a suspect dead and a u-s marshal in the hospital.

Wcbi's allie martin joins us live from oxford with the latest..

Ust a few feet from where everything happened around noon officers were chasing a murder suspect out of arkansas ending up right here on south lamar susupet started shooting at officers u.s. marshal was shot twice in stomach but will be okay suspect is deceased it took a matter of seconds for everything to unfoldinvestin choctaw county are looking into a deadly officer involved shooting// sheriff brandon busby says deputies were serving a search warrant on bluff springs road early this morning// at some point investigators say there was an exchange of gunfire between police and the suspect// the suspect died in the shooting// several agencies are investigating// wipe to vo tupelo police are asking for help finding a suspect accused of identity theft.

Police say the man in this picture used a fake id and forged withdrawal slips.

The suspect is then accused of withdrawing cash from a victim's bank account at multiple bank branches across north mississippi.

Surveillance video shows him driving a gray four door sedan.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call tupelo police department or crimestoppers of northeast mississippi.

Family , friends and law enforcement are mourning the loss of a mississippi highway patrolman.

Keith cole passed away earlier this week after a battle with cancer.

The 41 year old was a longtime resident of lee county.

Trooper cole graduated from the north mississippi law enforcement training center in 2009, and worked with mdot, before becoming a state trooper in 2018.

A private service will be held at tupelo's first baptist church, then a procession with law officers from across the state will travel to dorsey where trooper cole will be laid to rest.

Cole leaves behind a wife and son.

Take nats off top it's national police week and the lowndes county sheriff's department took time today to remember fallen deputies.

During a ceremony this afternoon, the department honored deputies who have died in the line or duty or from other causes during their service in the department.

Fellow deputies, family members, and friends attended the ceremony.

Sheriff eddie hawkins says he wants to keep the memory of these community heroes alive.

They give their lives to the citizens of lowndes county and provide services.

And they do so much for our county.

And we're wanting to let our citizens know we haven't forgotten those- those officers.

So, this is something that i wanted to implement coming into office and do once a year in honor of our fallen officers here in lowndes county.

President john f.

Kennedy signed a proclamation in 1962 designating may 15th as "peace officers memorial day."

First look stinger first look summary: standard summer fare will be the story for the weekend.

Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s while overnight lows stay in the 60s.

A few isolated showers are possible saturday with higher odds of scattered rain and storms on sunday.

Some folks may get some good rain this weekend while other may not get much at all.

Drier and sunnier weather builds back in next week.

Friday night: rain will fade during the evening with variably cloudy conditions during the night.

Lows in the mid 60s.

Winds become light from the se.

Saturday: a mostly cloudy start will give rise to a mix of clouds and sun during the day.

A few isolated showers may develop and governor tate reeves is opening more parts of the magnolia state.

He's amending the "safer at home" order which doesn't expire until may 25th.

Tattoo parlors and casinos are the latest to join in on the governor's effort to reopen and get money flowing in the state// however, casinos can't open up right away// the governor says he has been working closely with the mississippi gaming commission on mapping out how to safely reopen casinos// they've set a date for may 21st.

But they won't allow it to be a full capacity and they'll have to follow strict social distancing guidelines.

Another amendment made is the state's control regarding state parks, city parks, and other outdoors areas.

The prior executive order was a 9am-7pm curfew for those areas.

The governor is letting local governments provide the rules.

The department of wildlife - fisheries and parks will make the call for state parks.

Dance studios will also be able to open with regulations similar to gyms and salons// governor reeves says this new amendment opens the door to get all of mississippi flowing again// "it's an effort to affirm that there is no such thing a non essential business for workers that rely on its pay check for food and shelter.

It also makes a few common sense changes to the order like allowing local entities to allow curfews on parks, lifting curfews on dine in restaurants that don't serve alcohol and ending prohibition on fishing tournaments."

The governor also stressed for mississippians to take personal responsibility and remember to practice safe health practices recommended by the cdc// wipe to vo there were two deaths overnight in lowndes county from covid 19.

Lowndes county coroner greg merchant confirms a person from oktibbeha county died at baptist memorial hospital early this morning.

The second patient, a resident at a columbus retirement community, has died after being diagnosed with covid-19.

This follows the death earlier this week of an employee at the arrington assisted living community.

This makes four people connected to the arrington who have died after testing positive for covid- 19.

State health officials say long- term care facilities are at high risk of an outbreak and spreading of the virus.

The pickens county medical center has been closed since early march because of ongoing financial problems. that's left many in the county without easily accessible healthcare.

It also makes it increasingly difficult to get tested for covid- 19.

Today, cahaba medical care out of birmingham stepped in to help with that, providing free testing to area residents.

Our stephanie poole has more..

A quick check-in, a picture of your driver's license,and a nose swab.this is the process for the covid-19 drive- thru testing with cahaba medical care.

Daisy jackson was one of the first in line this morning.

" i thank god for it.

I was wondering because we live in a rural area and most of us may not ever get tested.but i thank god for it today."

Jackson says she was concerned the people in her community wouldn't receive the care they needed.

She's grateful help has finally come.

" they don't have to do it but they are doing it for the people.

If i can the word out back in aliceville i would call and tell someone to come and get tested."

Julia todd is a resident physician for cahaba medical care.

She says even though no symptoms are required to be tested, her team is watching for visible signs of infection.

" we would inspect the patient while we're doing the screening for the coronavirus testing we are also looking to see if patients have acute symptoms. shortness of breath or any respiratory changes which at time we get them routed to the nearest emergency facility."

One of the biggest advantages of the testing is that it's free for everyone.

Aliceville city councilman, terrence windham says the board teamed up with the hospital to provide this test in the most affordable way.

" in a rural area and low-income area a-lot of people don't have insurance and they're skeptical about setting up and appointment so by this being a drive-by where they can come in,test,and be finished this makes it as easy as possible so those that need to be tested.a-lot of people can't drive to tuscaloosa, they don't have transportation to columbus so this makes it the best site possible for pickens county."

Butt sots " this is a major factor now with the economic changes that are happening due to the pandemic, so it's a great way for patients to come out and get tested for the coronavirus without worrying if they can afford the test of not."

Cahaba's medical team says everyone should receive their test results in the next two days.

Reporting in pickens county,stephanie poole, wcbi news..

Nearly 100 people were tested from the drive-thru site.

Take vo off top it will be at least another month before community centers reopen in lowndes county.

Supervisors made that decision this morning.

They voted to keep the doors closed at county community centers until july 1st.

The community centers in lowndes county have large open rooms, smaller meeting areas and kitchens for events and group gatherings.

Stinger it was a special delivery for a couple of columbus high school seniors..

Find out who's tops in the class of 20-20 when we come imagine you're at home relaxing and enjoying your day... then suddenly you get a visit from school leaders.... greeting you with a loud cheer and crowning you the valedictorian and salutatorian for your class.

That's what happened to 2 columbus high school seniors today..

Our quentin smith tagged along for the ride and was there as the seniors celebrated this big accomplishment... seniors jaikyeron dukes and aaliyah harris spent hours countless hours hitting the books and dedicating themselves to being the top students in their class academically.

Now they're finding out all of their hard work has finally paid off.

Nat as aaliyah harris stepped out of her house shocked and surprised by what's going on...she was greeted with a loud cheer... nat and received a medal given from her principal.... awarding her as the salutatorian for her high school class... it's a gesture that brought her to tears..

" just to know that all of the hard work that i've been doing is actually leading up to this point, and just to have this accomplishment, it's one of the greatest feelings."

But things didn't stop there... a few miles down the road...there was another surprise.

Nat this time...it was jaikyeron dukes finding out she's being crowned valedictorian.

Nat an accomplishment that also brought out a lot of emotion.

Nat " i did not feel this coming.

I knew that i was putting in the work for it, but i didn't really know i was going to be valedictorian, i thought my friend was going to get it actually, but this is exhilarating."

Nat what makes the moment even sweeter is harris and dukes are close friends, and when they found out they finished in the top two of their class, the classmates celebrated together... in the midst of the fun time.....the two acknowledged thay it took a lot of hard work, determination and dedication to get them to this point.

" i really doubted myself a lot, so the fact that i'm valedictorian out of almost 200, if not 200 people, this is an exciting moment for me."

" it feels good.

I've been working so hard, working all four years of my high school career, just trying to keep my grades up, keeping a job, so it was hard but it was worth it."

" everybody tells you it all starts in ninth grade, but before then i was already trying to keep all a's, and just give myself a foundation to build on."

As their high school career comes to an end, they soon-to-be- graduates want to use their success and their stories to help motivate the younger students coming up behind them.

" it doesn't matter what you do, you can have a job, you may get discouraged, it doesn't matter, you can still do it, you can still come out on top."

When it comes to thee college plans.

Harris wants to go to ole miss and major in criminal justice, then from there she wants to go into law school dukes is deciding whether to accept a full ride scholarship to rust college, or attend mississippi state where she plans to major in either biology or psychology.

Reporting in columbus.

Quentin smith.

Wcbi news.

Harris and dukes will give their speeches as the valedictorian and salutatorian.... which will air when the graduation ceremony is shown next friday... stinger wx open summary: standard summer fare will be the story for the weekend.

Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s while overnight lows stay in the 60s.

A few isolated showers are possible saturday with higher odds of scattered rain and storms on sunday.

Some folks may get some good rain this weekend while other may not get much at all.

Drier and sunnier weather builds back in next week.

Friday night: rain will fade during the evening with variably cloudy conditions during the night.

Lows in the mid 60s.

Winds become light from the se.

Saturday: a mostly cloudy start will give rise to a mix of clouds and sun during the day.

A few isolated showers may develop and we can't totally rule out a stray storm.

Rain chances are in the 20-30% range.

Winds se 5-15 mph.

Saturday night: partly to mostly cloudy.

Lows in the mid 60s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy with a 50- 60% chance of scattered showers and storms. some storms may produce gusty breezes, lightning, and locally heavy downpours.

Highs should top out in the mid 80s prior to any storm or shower.

Sunday night: partly to mostly cloudy with a few lingering showers.

Lows in the 60s.

Monday: a mix of sun and clouds.

Cooler highs in the upper 70s.

Just a 20% chance of a shower during the day.

Tuesday- wednesday: mostly sunny.

Highs in the mid to upper 70s.

Lows in the 50s.

Thursday-friday: partly cloudy and warmer.

Highs in the 80s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger the ban might be lifted but the m-a- c-j-c is not ready to bring recruiting back just yet...more on that, when we come when will sports return to the s-e- c....that's the question on many minds there isn't a definitive answer, however, s-e-c athletic administrators are set to vote in the coming days on re- opening facilities the vote is scheduled for may 22nd and will decide one of two things either players will be allowed to access facilities starting june first or the current suspension on athletics will be extended if the vote passes for facilites to re- open, players can use them on voluntary basis n-c-a-a president mark emmert saying in regards to bringing sports back // that ultimately a student-athlete can't be put at a greater risk than a normal student "i'm not the ultimate arbiter of this.

It's going to be a decision that each of the campuses is going to have to make on their own.

But again, these are college students that are playing these sports.

The one thing that we've been saying loud and clear is you can't put a student athlete at any greater risk than you would a normal student.

Students can come back to campus under a variety of different modes, and you can do the same thing with sports.

What everybody is exploring right now is, working closely with out medical advisors because that's who we rely heavily on i'm not a physician or medical profession.

We're going to try to set parameters that allow student athletes to return safely along with classmates."

Ole miss men's basketball continues to expand its depth chart the latest pick up by head coach kermit davis, arizona state grad transfer romello white white, a 6-8 forward, ranks as the number two grad transfer in the country according to espn davis referred to white as a "very accomplished player that impacted winning at a high level at arizona state.

He finished second in the pac-12 in rebounding last year and became one of the all-time shooters in conference history in terms of field goal percentage" last season for the sun devils, white averaged about 10 points and 9 boards per game following the n-j- c-aa's announcement that recruiting restricitions would be lifted starting tonight // the m-a-c-j-c announcing that the conference won't be allowing in-person recruiting just yet per reccommendation by all 15 mississippi community college athletic directors, in-person recruiting will remain restricted both on and off campus until at least may 31st commissioner steve martin says he fully supports the decision and that its consistent with many schools remaining closed through may coming up after the break, keith will have a final look