2 US police officers shot dead in Mississippi

Two police officers were shot and killed on Saturday in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the shooter fled the area in a police vehicle, local television station WDAM reported.

The police vehicle was abandoned near a local train depot, it said. The station, citing local officials, said law enforcement agencies were conducting a manhunt for the suspect in the area, which is about 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Jackson.

A police dispatcher declined to comment and a spokesperson for the Hattiesburg Police Department could not immediately be reached for confirmation or detail on the report.

According to WDAM, two officers were transported to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, where they were pronounced dead.

WDAM journalist Ryan Moore, who reported from the scene of the shooting, said in messages on Twitter that the officers were shot during a traffic stop and that the suspect then fled in one of their vehicles.