WASHINGTON -- Two policemen were killed Saturday in a shootout in the US state of Mississippi, local police said.

The incident took place in Brookhaven. Local police chief Kenneth Collins said the two policemen were responding to a report of gunshot when they were wounded by a shooter, presumably 25-year-old Marquis Flowers.

The two policemen, 35-year-old James White and 31-year-old Zack Moak were pronounced dead at a hospital.

"This is devastating for our community, especially given what has already happened so recently," Brookhaven Mayor Joe Cox said, referring to a shooting 16 months ago that killed one policeman and seven others.