Sgt. Brandon Paudert (left) and Officer Bill Evans (right) of the West Memphis Police Department were shot to death yesterday following a traffic stop on Interstate 40.

UPDATE:

Here is the link to the Memphis Commercial Appeal with further information about the two police murders.

Commercial Appeal article and photos

Tragic day.

Calls for prayer.

Commercial Appeal article

Officers killed in West Memphis

The bloodiest day for area law enforcement officials began with routine-sounding radio broadcasts that West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert and his wife heard from their car.

One was from their son, Sgt. Brandon Paudert, reporting that he was providing backup for a traffic stop on Interstate 40.... Moments later, however, came a chilling transmission: "Officer down."

The elder Paudert rushed to the scene to find his 39-year-old son, a seven-year veteran with the West Memphis force, lying dead on the pavement, shot in the head and neck, still gripping his service weapon.

That sequence, confirmed by a law enforcement source, ushered in 90 minutes of horror and chaos Thursday that left two West Memphis police officers dead and the two top officers with the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department wounded.

The two suspects also were killed. Authorities declined to identify them....