Ex-con accused of killing police officer surrenders

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- An ex-con accused of fatally shooting a police officer who interrupted a drug deal turned himself in Monday, ending a two-day manhunt, authorities said.

Tremaine Wilbourn, 29, is accused of killing officer Sean Bolton on Saturday night, after the officer approached a car along a street known for years as a quiet oasis amid a troubled neighborhood.

Wilbourn was with his family and an attorney when he turned himself in.

"I think he felt the walls closing in and thought it would be in his best interest to turn himself in," Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong said Monday.

Armstrong spoke briefly to Wilbourn and the suspect told him: "I want you to know that one, I'm not a cold-blooded killer, and two, I am not a coward."

Tremaine Wilbourn

Armstrong had used that word to describe Wilbourn during the manhunt.

On Saturday night, police said Wilbourn was a passenger in a 2002 Mercedes Benz parked illegally in the southeast Memphis neighborhood. Bolton approached the car, Wilbourn got out of the Mercedes and the two men got into a struggle, police said.

Wilbourn took out a gun and fired, striking Bolton several times. Wilbourn and the driver ran away as a civilian used Bolton's radio to notify police, authorities said.

The driver later turned himself in and was released without charges. Police sought Wilbourn on a first-degree murder warrant. His first court appearance is expected today.

Officers said they found about 1.7 grams of marijuana in the car.

Wilbourn was on probation for an armed bank robbery. A sentencing memorandum filed by Wilbourn's lawyer May 16, 2006, said Wilbourn was persuaded by his uncle to join the robbery to help him with his finances and "he was awaiting news regarding a possible college scholarship based on his athletic ability."

He was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison and released on probation in July 2014. He used marijuana in December and was ordered to undergo mental-health treatment July 7, according to federal court documents released Monday. It's not clear whether he was evaluated.

The documents said witnesses to the officer's shooting identified Wilbourn in a photo lineup.

Wilbourn, who goes by the names Tremaine Martin and "T-Streetz," is black. Bolton, who was white, was a 33-year-old Marine who served in Iraq.

He was the third Memphis officer to be fatally shot in slightly more than four years. His funeral was scheduled for Thursday.

Residents along the street where Bolton was gunned down said their block had been quiet compared to the neighborhood around them, where gunshots cut through the night, and people are afraid to go outside after dark.

Melvin Norment, whose family has lived on the block for 25 years, said he saw the Mercedes on Saturday night and knew it didn't belong to his neighbors.

"It's not a car I've seen before," he said. "Because I sit outside all the time. I knew it wasn't anybody's car from around here."

A few blocks away -- at a busy intersection with fast-food restaurants, apartment complexes and an empty lot -- police for years have battled drugs and crime in this city long listed among America's most violent.

On Monday morning, yellow crime tape rested in a bundle along the curb on Summerlane Avenue. A vase with yellow, red and white flowers and a white stuffed unicorn had been placed at the scene as a makeshift memorial to the fallen officer.