Thursday night after DeNardo shot and killed himself, Adam found a letter written by DeNardo to him in his office. DeNardo was suspended without pay shortly before his death.
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Worries would seem to be few and far between in Bay St. Louis, a community of sandy beaches and monthly art walks that bounced back strong after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina all but wiped it out.
It was decided the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office would temporarily assume control.
Law enforcement officers comforted each other outside Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss., on Thursday after DeNardo had been pronounced dead.. Hancock County Coroner Jim Faulk said Chief DeNardo died Thursday.
Mayor Les Fillingame assured his citizens in Bay St. Louis on Friday morning that the police force Chief Mike De Nardo left behind is well trained to protect the city.
Bay St. Louis Police Chief Mike De Nardo was being investigated over allegations he had illegally sold at least one city-owned firearm and had committed payroll fraud, Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam said Friday.
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss.
Officials say a MS police chief had been suspended just before he shot and killed himself outside the station.
DeNardo joined the Bay St. Louis police force in 2004 before leading as the department’s chief for nearly six years, reports said. We want them to have to overturn, you know, every stone, whatever they need to do to get the true story, you know.
Bass said the inquiry started from an anonymous tip and was in its early stages.
Bass says he couldn’t confirm whether the weapon was evidence from a case or had been purchased for use by the department. The federal investigation would have been separate from the sheriff’s inquiry. He did not reveal details about the investigation.
People around the city are in shock over what happened outside the police department on a quiet Thursday afternoon.
DeNardo shot himself once in the chest while in the station parking lot, authorities said.
Those who knew him like restaurant owner Neil Farve say they will remember DeNardo for his service to the city, not the circumstances surrounding his death.
DeNardo had just been informed of his suspension and the investigation when he shot himself with a rifle he picked up out of his trunk, officials with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said.. He could not give details on what the intelligence was about. Fillingame also told the Associated Press he believed De Nardo would have been cleared of any wrongdoing by the investigation.
DeNardo also appears to have been grieving a personal loss.
Many in the small MS community are stunned.
Ragusa was gassing up her auto near the police station Thursday when a sudden onslaught of police cars and other emergency vehicles rushed by. Balloons are attached to the Bay St. Louis Police Department sign on U.S.Highway 90, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
The police department’s website says DeNardo had worked there since 2004 and the mayor appointed him chief in 2010.
“We were here to assist the City of Bay St. Louis and their mayor to escort Chief DeNardo from the office and obtain his city issued equipment”. He says DeNardo was well-liked in Bay St. Louis and that news of his suicide puts the town in “a daze”. DeNardo originally told Fillingame that he was in NY following the death of his mother, even going so far as to weave an intricate story about being stranded in OH and having to take a 20-hour bus ride home.
“So much healing has taken place here”.
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Waveland resident, Paul Arseneau said, “I’m shocked, that’s for sure”.
