A police officer in Mississippi received a call about a shooting incident who she thought would be a normal day for a police officer like her. Hazelhurst Police Department officer Laquandia Cooley arrived at the crime scene and was shocked to know that the victim was her 20-year-old son.
Cooley never imagined that one day she would respond to a shooting incident that would involve her son Charles.
Cooley told the WLBT “We initially responded to the call, not knowing when I made it over there, the person was going to be my son that was laying there,”
“As we get out, I look and I was like, ‘This is my son, this is my son.’ So, I literally just go into a break down you know? Like, why? Who would do this to my son?”
After seeing her son on the ground was more than overwhelming.
PHOTO: Charles Stewart, Jr., 20, was shot and killed Early Sunday morning in Hazlehurst. His mother, Officer Laquandia Cooley, would be the one to discover her son’s body lying on Larkin Street. https://t.co/EPkLnA3EdA pic.twitter.com/HgQUhtPWNJ
— WLBT 3 On Your Side (@WLBT) January 4, 2022
“I couldn’t even believe what I was seeing,” she said. “I was seeing my own son laying there on the ground dead. It was pretty much a panic. It was just, it was too much.”
According to Charles’ father Charles Stewart, Sr., they had no idea who could’ve killed his son and the reason behind it.
“It’s traumatizing for the whole family. We’re just trying to cope day today,” he said. “Just trying to figure out why this happened and who could have done this.”
Aside from Charles Jr., Cooley also has a 22-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old brother.
Charles Jr. sister Destinequa Hilliard, shared her grief on social media. “I’m lost,” she wrote in a Facebook post according to Daily Mail. “How can anybody live after losing a sibling[?] I’m trying to be the strong one but I’m getting weak I’ll never be able to see my brother again whoever did this is wrong why lord why. ”
Officials have not identified any suspects in the shooting and have handed the investigation over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation since the victim is a police officer’s son.
Sources: WLBT, Daily Caller, Complex, WBX 130, Yahoo News, Boston 25 News
