IMAGE SOURCE: ( CBS )

BY ANTHONY MARTINEZ 


Two deadly Mississippi highway shootings prompted statewide alerts of a possible police impersonator on the prowl. But now, police say that theory has been busted, along with their suspect. CNN reports, police have arrested 28-year-old James Willie.

“...police and investigators had thrown out the possible, the possibility...whoever the culprit was, might be acting as a police officer. Remember, the two people who were killed were gunned down kind of in the early morning hours.”


The cop rumors were enough to send statewide officials into high alert. Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said it was the only way to reflect the seriousness of the chilling shootings. The LA Times reports...

...the fake-officer theory had been floated only as one "plausible scenario" -- one that caused
considerable fear statewide.”

Strain says...

“...it was a situation where if we didn't do anything and he was posing as a police officer, then holy cow, you've got a whole different ballgame there," Strain said.


No witnesses, no motive. Both victims were unrelated in any connection with the suspect, but police first thought it might have been this man ...

James Lucas, thought to have been a suspect of the motorist shootings when investigators found a fake cop badge, handcuffs, and a Mercury Marquis, souped up to look like a cop car.
 
But it wasn’t until a woman called Tunica, Mississippi police, claiming Willie raped her that a ballistic test on his 9mm pistol--ratted him out.

In a press conference with Tunica police, unanswered questions still remain. Like if Willie wasn’t impersonating an officer, how did he get the drivers to pull over? WREG reports...

“Well, we can’t confirm or deny whether he had a flashing light...  
She could have been possibly already pulled over.
There was no indication that the cars were damaged or they received a bump or anything.”

Willie is being held on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and rape. He’s also formally charged with two counts of capital murder.