A man was shot and killed early Friday morning by a Meridian Police Department officer following a high speed chase down Interstate 20/59 in which authorities said the man rammed a police unit and pointed a gun at officers.

    According to the Clarke County Coroner Greg Fairchild, the suspect has been identified as 44-year-old Thomas Ardd of 200 North Hills Street, Meridian. Fairchild said an autopsy was scheduled to be performed later Friday.

    MPD Lt. John Griffith said at about 4 a.m. an MPD patrol unit attempted to make a traffic stop on a vehicle that was driving erratically on Frontage Road in Meridian. Griffith said the driver of the vehicle refused to stop and led the officer on a high speed chase west on Interstate 20/59 before turning south on Interstate 59 toward Clarke County.

    During the chase that entered northern Clarke County near the North Enterprise exit, Griffith said the driver of the vehicle lost control and spun out but then regained control of the vehicle at which point Griffith said he rammed the MPD unit, police said.

    Griffith said the driver then got out of the vehicle and pointed a gun at officers. Griffith said the man refused to drop the gun when ordered and was shot. Griffith did not say how many shots were fired or how many officers may have fired their guns. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by Fairchild.

    Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp said deputies were on their way to the northern part of the county to assist in the incident but that the chase and subsequent shots being fired had already occurred by the time they had arrived.

    “Judging by the first calls that went out and the time it took them to get to Clarke County the chase was really moving fast down the interstate,” Kemp said.

    Griffith said the incident is under investigation by authorities with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department and the MPD.

    “We are the lead agency in the shooting investigation with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation assisting us,” Kemp said.

    No officers were injured during the incident.