Stabbed and shot on Patterson Street
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks said this week that APD detectives are working overtime to identify and bring to justice the person responsible for Saturday’s fatal shooting and stabbing of an Atmore man.
Brooks confirmed Saturday (April 25) that the homicide victim is 43-year-old Desmond Deshun Dirden. Dirden, who had died by the time police and emergency medical personnel arrived, was apparently shot and stabbed on the sidewalk of a local apartment complex shortly before 1:30 a.m.
The police chief said in a press release that patrol officers and an ambulance were dispatched to Patterson Street Apartments after a 911 call came in around 1:24 a.m. that “a person had been assaulted by what appeared to be a gunshot and stab wound.”
Police reports indicate that Dirden had suffered both types of wounds and was found lying dead, in a pool of blood on the sidewalk, when emergency personnel arrived. The apartment complex was declared a homicide scene, and investigators were called in.
Brooks called Atmore Fire Department around 4 a.m. and requested that an AFD crew bring its brush truck to the murder site and wash down the sidewalk.
He said city detectives had been working overtime since Dirden’s body was discovered.
“The investigation is ongoing, so I’m not going to talk about the details,” Brooks said Monday. “There’s a lot going on with the investigation. Our investigators have been working all weekend, but right now we have no more information that I can pass on.”
The police chief added that the probe is far more complex than it would seem on its surface.
“There’s a lot of information our investigators are having to go through,” he said. “They are working as hard as they can. I can’t say enough about the men and women of our investigative staff.”
Anyone with information that could help police bring the killer to justice is urged to call 251-368-9141 and ask to speak with an investigator.