UPDATE: Suspect In Custody After Murder Of Officer Kennis Croom

MERIDIAN, MS — Patch has confirmed that authorities have arrested a man suspected of killing his pregnant fiancée and then a Mississippi police officer originally from Tuscaloosa.

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Mississippi State Highway Patrol said Friday morning that Dante Bender, 31, was taken into custody sometime earlier in the day. Local media outlets in east Mississippi report that he was arrested at a gas station in Ackerman — a small town in Choctaw County, Mississippi.

As Patch reported Thursday night, 30-year-old Kennis Croom, an officer with the Meridian Police Department who grew up in Tuscaloosa County, was shot and critically injured as he responded on the initial call just after 5:30 p.m.

The suspect was then identified as 31-year-old Dante Bender, who fled the scene after shooting Croom.

According to Mississippi journalist Therese Apel of Darkhorse Press — an independent online news publication that closely covers law enforcement across the Magnolia State — Bender is also suspected of trying to harm four children on the scene after killing his fiancée. However, Apel wrote that investigators believe Croom stopped him from doing so.

Croom was airlifted to a Mississippi hospital, where he died from his injuries shortly after arrival.

Apart from his law enforcement service in Mississippi, Croom also worked at one time with both the Eutaw and Vance police departments.

Croom is the son of former Alabama football player Kelvin Croom and the nephew of former Mississippi State University football coach Sylvester Croom, who also starred on the gridiron for the Tide. He is also the brother of Tuscaloosa County EMA Deputy Director Tamara Croom.

This is a developing story. Tuscaloosa Patch will provide more updates as they come available.