State officials are investigating how an inmate was able to escape custody in north Mississippi.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assessing how murder suspect Joshua Zimmerman was able to exit the DeSoto County courthouse ahead of a scheduled hearing back in June.
U.S. Marshals confirmed that Zimmerman had been apprehended on Wednesday after an hours-long standoff with police. The 30-year-old barricaded himself inside the Seafood Junction on the west side of Chicago on Tuesday night. Authorities with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office said Zimmerman was inside the restaurant alone, meaning no civilians were at risk.
DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton revealed shortly after Zimmerman’s June 14 escape that he believes that the incident was partially a result of work from the inside after camera footage from the courthouse was mysteriously deleted.
Zimmerman is now being extradited back to Mississippi, where DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Justin Smith said he will be interviewed to “gather the remaining facts surrounding his escape.”
The suspect was initially locked up in the Magnolia State on attempted murder charges for attacking an elderly man in Southaven who had hired him to work at his house. He also faces charges out of Houston, Texas where he was allegedly involved in the shooting death of a woman.
More charges are expected to follow.
