MDWFP mourns death of eighth officer

Itawamba County’s Collum struck by automobile Friday night

One day before Mississippi’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks had scheduled a memorial service for conservation officers killed in the line of duty, one of the state’s most decorated will be laid to rest.

Master Sergeant John Collum of Fulton will be buried Wednesday after being struck and killed by a vehicle while assisting on a report of a prowler around 10 p.m. Friday night on John Rankin Highway in Itawamba County.

Collum, a 15-year veteran of the MDWFP and the eighth conservation officer killed on duty, was 56.

A popular figure in the small Northeastern Mississippi community, Collum’s services are being held at the Davis Event Center on the campus of Itawamba Community College in Fulton.

Visitation is from 5-9 p.m. today, and resumes at 10 a.m. Wednesday ending with funeral services at 2 p.m.

On Thursday in Jackson, he will be remembered when the MDWFP holds its annual memorial for fallen officers at 9 a.m. at the agency’s headquarters at 1505 Eastover Drive. It is being held in conjunction with the National Police Memorial Week May 11-17. Collum is the eighth MDWFP officer to die in the line of duty and the first since 2002.

According to reports, Collum was investigating a report of a prowler near his hometown when he was struck and killed by a 2002 Nissan Sentra.

Itawamba County sheriff Chris Dickinson said the driver of the car, Cody Weaver, 19, of Fulton, remained at the scene. Dickinson said Weaver is being charged with negligent homicide.

Dickenson estimated Weaver’s rate of speed at 75 miles per hour at the time of the accident. Skid marks estimated at 300 feet were found on the roadway.

According to his peers at the MDWFP, Collum was the consummate officer. In 2012, he was named the Southeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Officer of the Year. The award covers 17 states.

In 2013, the Mississippi Wildlife Federation honored Collum as its 2012 Conservation Officer of the Year at its annual Achievement Awards dinner in Jackson. Collum is survived by his wife, Karen; two sons, Seth (Tiffany) and Shae (Elizabeth); and four grandchildren, Avery, Dixie Belle, Gunner and Baylor, all of Fulton.

Other survivors include his parents, Dr. Billy T. and Barbara Collum, of Fulton; five sisters, Barbara Jo Collum of Nashville, Billy Jean Stroud of New Albany, Cynthia Finney of Madison, Ala., Charlotte Collum of Nashville, Tenn., and Deborah Collum of Rossville, Tenn.; and two brothers, Mark Collum of Tupelo and James Collum of Madison, Ala. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Lesley Wayne Collum and Phillip Charles Collum.

Mississippi’s 8 fallen Conservation Officers (from MDWFP.com):

John Collum, May 9, 2014 (vehicular assault).

Michael Anthony Andrews, Nov. 11, 2002 (automobile accident).

Hilton H. “Ike” Shoemake, Dec. 26, 1990 (gunfire).

James S. Wood, Oct. 21, 1984 (gunfire).

Ted Sloan, Jan. 1, 1967 (gunfire).

Willie A. Shingler, Nov. 13, 1962 (drowned).

Ezra L. Brewer, April 4, 1959 (drowned).

Bud Stewart, Jan. 1, 1948 (gunfire).