Community Mourns Officer Described as “Gentle, Family Man,” Shooter on the Loose

Biloxi Police Chief John Miller held a press conference this morning at the Biloxi Public Safety Center, where the Biloxi Police Department headquarters is located, at 9 a.m. this morning. The focus – Robert McKeithan, the officer who was gunned down in that very parking lot at about 10:15 Sunday night. Chief Miller says Robert McKeithan was a 24 year veteran on the force, and was planning to retire later this year. Chief Miller says he was a family man, and leaves behind a wife, daughter, two stepsons and a stepdaughter, calling him a “wonderful family man…who was gentle, likeable, treated people with respect, will be sorely missed…” Bradford O’keefe Funeral Homes will handle the funeral arrangements.

Chief Miller says the suspect, a black male, between 5’7” and 5’11”, who was last seen wearing red and a skull cap, heading north on Porter Avenue, where the Biloxi Public Safety Center is located, is still on the loose. Crimestoppers has offered a $5,000 reward for any tips that lead to the suspect’s capture. Chief Miller called the gunman an “animal” during the press conference, and says any questions about the actual crime need to be directed to the Gulfport Police Department, the agency that is handling this officer-involved shooting.

Among the agencies that turned out early this morning for support: the Mississippi Highway Patrol, D’Iberville Police Department, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, ATF, Border Patrol, Biloxi and Harrison County Fire, Pascagoula Police Department, and others.

Chief Miller says at one point the alleged gunman did enter the police department. The officer was gunned down out in the parking lot near his cruiser.

If you have any information about the suspected gunman, or recognize the man in the surveillance photos that have been released, call your local law enforcement agency or CRIMESTOPPERS.