Motor Officer Down

Flags drop to half-staff in memory of police officer
By ROBIN FITZGERALD - rfitzgerald@sunherald.com


The American flag flies at half-staff at all city properties, a move city officials ask residents and businesses to follow for an indefinite period in memory of the Gulfport police motorcycle officer who died this morning after a crash on U.S. 49.

Lt. Rob Curry, 39, died at Garden Park Medical Center at 11:21 a.m., about an hour after his collision with another vehicle in Gulfport's Orange Grove area, said Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove.

He is the first Gulfport police officer to die in the line of duty in 29 years.


Lt. Rob Curry

Gallery: Fatal Gulfport police accident
A stretch of the highway between Community and Dedeaux roads was shut down for accident reconstruction for about four hours. The crash is under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Biloxi Police Department.

Police Sgt. Rick Fisher said the collision occurred in a northbound lane at 10:26 a.m. Details, including the name of the other driver, have not been released.

Police officials and Mayor Brent Warr in a press conference outside the Police Department asked for residents to pray for Curry's family, the officers who rushed to his aid and all members of the Gulfport Police Department.

The mayor described Curry as a veteran law enforcement officer and military serviceman, "an American hero who gave his life in the line of duty."

A tearful Police Chief Alan Weatherford said Curry was a 14-year member of the department and a longtime member of a statewide DUI association. Curry had recently been assigned as officer in charge of the Police Department's traffic division.

"Rob's death is a tremendous loss to our police family," said Weatherford. "He has always embodied that which makes law enforcement an admirable job. There has never been a question as to his love of the job and the love of his fellow officers."

Curry's wife, Leslie, is a lieutenant with the Police Department and the mother of their two children.

Deputy Police Chief Alfred Sexton expressed appreciation to area law enforcement agencies, which have offered to provide officers and dispatchers to help with daily operations while Police Department personnel "begin the healing process."

D'Iberville Police Chief Wayne Payne and Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd were among the area law enforcement officials who went to the Police Department this afternoon in moral support.

"It'll be all right," Biloxi Assistant Police Chief Rodney McGilvary offered as comfort with a handshake to Danny Holloway, Gulfport's chief criminal investigator.

"I know he will," Holloway replied. "He's fine now."

Motorists who stopped at the crash scene it appeared to occur as a motorist pulled out of the Post Office just south of Dedeaux. The driver may have been attempting to cross northbound lanes to turn south, witnesses said.

Bridge Hutchinson, an investor on her way to work, was in the left lane of southbound travel when she noticed a man lying in the median near a motorcycle. Then she noticed a man in a suit trying to remove the officer's helmet.

"I jumped out and yelled, 'don't touch him. Don't move him,'" said Hutchinson.

Hutchinson said she reached over and touched the downed officer's fingers and prayed for him as the first two officers to arrive began to check on his injuries.

"The other driver was distraught, and she was crying and saying, 'I didn't mean to, it was an accident.' I threw my arms around her and started praying for her."

Dozens of law enforcement vehicles followed an ambulance to the hospital, where police officials said the mood in the emergency room lobby was somber.

"Everybody was in shock," said Rodney McGilvary.

The coroner said an autopsy is being performed this afternoon.

The Sun Herald updates this story in Friday's editions.