Tremaine Wilbourn, Memphis cop-killing suspect, in custody, network says

The career criminal accused of killing Memphis police Officer Sean Bolton over less than 2 grams of marijuana surrendered himself to federal authorities Monday afternoon in Memphis.

The arrest of Tremaine Wilbourn was first reported by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in a tweet.

“Wilbourne is in custody!” the Memphis-based department spontaneously tweeted out, not caring too much whether the spelling of the fugitive’s name was correct.

The department said Mr. Wilbourn, who was named as a suspect Sunday and already had been put on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Top Ten Most Wanted List, gave himself up to the U.S. Marshal’s Office on Monday.

“Great job to all involved in putting the pressure on. He turned himself in,” Sheriff William P. Oldham said.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Mr. Wilbourn, who turned himself in at a Memphis federal building accompanied by family members and a lawyer, denied the charges to Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong.

“At a press conference at the Federal Building, Director Armstrong said he spoke with Wilbourn who wanted to tell him two things, that he wasn’t a cold-blooded killer and that he wasn’t a coward, as Director Armstrong had referred to him Sunday in a press conference,” the Commercial Appeal reported.

Mr. Wilbourn is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday.

The sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page that “at the end of the day it’s not about who got him, but that its over, for now.”

“Now we hope Officer Bolton can truly rest, that his family can begin to grieve, and that as a community we can all begin to heal. To our brothers and sisters in Blue, we stand with you and are always here to help!” the department said.

The 29-year-old suspect was a convicted bank robber free on supervised release. He was released after having served about eight years of his 10-year federal sentence. He was caught for having used marijuana at least once since his release.

Officer Bolton was killed Saturday night after investigating an illegally parked 2002 Mercedes. 

According to authorities, Officer Bolton was shot several times after a scuffle over an amount of marijuana that would have resulted in a mere ticket.

Mr. Wilbourn and the driver of the vehicle fled the scene on foot, according to authorities. The driver turned himself in Sunday and police declared him a “person of interest,” but let him go later Sunday without charges.

Officer Bolton, 33, was a former Marine who had served in Iraq and been with the Memphis Police Department since 2010.

“To lose a loved one or a family member is a horrific event,” Director Armstrong said. “We lost not only an officer, but a great man, a dedicated servant to our community, and a family member.”

Mr. Wilbourn was sought on a first-degree murder warrant, and the murder of a policeman is a capital offense in every state that, like Tennessee, has the death penalty.