OfficerBlueClarksville, TN – Cop-killer James Decoursey was fatally shot by police officers overnight in Clarksville after an hours-long manhunt.
Decoursey, 35, was wanted for murdering Hopkinsville Police Officer Phillip Meacham while posing as a police officer earlier in the evening.
At around midnight, U.S. Marshalls and two Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies were following up on a tip about a possible sighting of Decoursey at a Clarksville hotel, according to The Leaf-Chronicle.
The officers located Decoursey walking toward the Cracker Barrel on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that Decoursey ignored repeated commands and the situation escalated before officers fatally shot the killer, according to The Leaf-Chronicle.
No officers were injured.
The murder of Officer Meacham occurred earlier in the evening. Hopkinsville PD says that Decoursey was posing as a police officer when he made a traffic stop on off-duty Officer Meacham at around 5:10 p.m.
What happened next isn’t clear, but Hopkinsville Chief Clayton Sumner later said at a press conference that “officers are never off duty,” and said “an officer was trying to help another officer tonight. And now we’re here.” When he was asked to clarify his comments, he declined to do so at that time.
Sometime during the stop, Decoursey fatally shot Officer Meacham.
Decoursey then fled on foot and stole a white Chevrolet pickup with Kentucky plate 2070GH.
38-year-old Officer Phillip Meacham leaves behind a wife and two school-aged children.
Officer Meacham was a 14-year law enforcement veteran in Christian County, and had just joined Hopkinsville PD last year.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Hopkinsville Police Department Officer Phillip Meacham, both blood and blue.