After two white men allegedly chased and shot at Black FedEx driver D’Monterrio Gibson inLincoln County, Miss., last year, Brookhaven Police Chief Kenny Collins did not arrest the suspects due to concerns for officer safety, he said in previously unreported recorded comments.
The Mississippi Free Press obtained an audio recording of a full 49-minute conversation from the days after the alleged shooting. Other outlets have reported short snippets in which Collins railed against protesters and discussed the suspects’ history, but not on his explanation for why he did not arrest the suspects after the shooting.
The father-and-son duo, Brandon Case and Gregory Case, voluntarily turned themselves in over a week after the incident on Feb. 1, 2022.
“Why put my officers in danger when they come into you?” Collins said in the recording during the days after the shooting. He did not return repeated calls seeking comment for this story on Monday, Tuesday or today. A receptionist at the department declined to provide an email for the chief.
Gibson says he was delivering packages in the town’s Junior Trail neighborhood on Jan. 24, 2022, when father-son duo Gregory and Brandon Case allegedly assailed him. A FedEx manager traveled with him to the Brookhaven Police Station the next day, where he filed a police report, the Mississippi Free Press reported last year. The police report noted that the delivery van had multiple bullet holes, including in the back door, in the bumper and in three packages.
The Cases turned themselves in on Feb. 1, 2022, and police charged them with conspiracy and aggravated assault. The pair, who denied the allegations, posted bail the next day. They remained free until November 2022, when a grand jury indicted them for attempted murder, shooting at a motor vehicle and conspiracy. The Cases, who are now out on $500,000 bonds, are awaiting a criminal trial.
‘Set Your Ass Down And Let Them Come To You’
Mother Jones’ Samantha Michaels reported on portions of the recording in November 2022, including a 38-second snippet that activist Marquell Bridges posted on Facebook that month and another one-minute-30-second one that