Physician involved in January standoff with SO turns self in

Physician involved in January standoff with SO turns self in

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A prominent family physician who is accused of firing shots at Neshoba County Sheriff’s deputies and was sent to the hospital in a January standoff turned himself in and bonded out Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff Eric Clark said Dr. Jeffrey Todd Willis turned himself in on the afternoon of March 9 on nine charges related to the January standoff. Clark said Willis turned himself in with his attorney and had just been released from the hospital for wounds he had received in the incident.

Clark said that Willis made his initial appearance in Justice Court and went back to the jail and went through the process of posting bond. Clark said Willis’ bond was around $1 million.

Willis, 59, of 13850 Road 602, was charged with the following in January:

• Domestic violence-aggravated assault.

• Two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and shots fired at officers on initial call.

• Four counts of aggravated assault on a police officer while effecting an arrest.

• Two counts of simple assault on a police officer while effecting an arrest.

The charges stem from an incident on Jan. 9, a Saturday. 

“While on scene a standoff ensued between law enforcement and the armed assailant,” Clark initially said in a Facebook post that Saturday night. 

Leake County deputies were called in to assist in the standoff that apparently lasted for some time before the shots were fired and Willis was taken to a Meridian hospital where he survived after surgery for bullet wounds to the chest.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was notified immediately and took charge Saturday, Clark said.

Road 602, commonly known as the River Road, runs parallel to the Pearl River in northwest Neshoba County connecting Mississippi 19 north and Mississippi 427 just above Edinburg. 

Willis, a well-known and liked family physician at Neshoba General with no apparent criminal record, is known to be a gun enthusiast and had photos of weapons on his personal Facebook page.

Willis first came to Philadelphia in 1994 as a general practitioner. He is listed as practicing family medicine at the Surgery Clinic of Philadelphia on Holland Avenue, which is part of the county-owned Neshoba General hospital, according to their website.

“All Neshoba County Sheriff’s Office personnel are safe,” Clark wrote Saturday night after the standoff Jan. 9. “Thank you Leake County Sheriff’s Office for the support. Please pray for all involved.”

The MBI investigation is still ongoing.

Clark said he expected Willis's next court appearance to be in early May.






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