A Clarksdale officer shooting in Mississippi over the weekend left Cpl. Derrick Couch critically injured, and a 19-year-old suspect was charged with the crime Monday. A day later, police took a second person of interest into custody in connection to the case.
Couch was shot in the face Saturday following the armed robbery of a grocery store and was transported by helicopter to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis where he underwent surgery in an attempt to
reattach his eye, Fox13Memphis.com reported.
Johnny Robinson Jr., 19, has been charged with attempted murder and two counts of armed robbery in connection to the shooting and is being held on a $700,000 bond for the charges, the station noted.
Security video reportedly showed two men walk into the Corner Grocery in Clarksdale. The pair allegedly robbed the establishment and then ran out across a parking lot and down an alley. Couch attempted to stop one suspect behind a church and that's when the
officer was shot, WREG.com reported.
Robinson's father brought him to the police station Sunday afternoon, and a different person of interest was taken in custody the
same day, according to The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. WREG-TV said that unidentified person of interest was later released.
Clarksdale Police Chief William Read said at a news conference Tuesday that officials believe Robinson was the shooter and the second person of interest in the armed robbery is
LeAndrew "Little Teddy" Booker, according to a WMC-TV video.
Fox 13 appeared to confirm the news in a Twitter message Tuesday afternoon, announcing that police had taken a person identified as Booker into custody.
Officials told The Clarion-Ledger that Couch remains on a ventilator after suffering some brain damage.
"He's a seasoned guy," Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett told the newspaper. "He has been on the narcotics squad for a while, and he's just a good officer . . . We've had an outpouring of prayers and offers of financial support from all over the city and elsewhere. This rocks us to the core. I don't know of any recent assaults that we've had more than just a scuffle with a police officer, especially a shooting. It's very traumatic."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.