callow way were charged with capital murder. a fourth suspect, cornelius clark, was charged with obstruction of justice. the shooting comes as police around the country are on edge thousands turning out to mourn a fallen nypd officer on friday. according to the national law enforcement memorial fund the number of officers ambushed and killed last year was three times higher than the year before. but hattiesburg s mayor says he does not think dean and tate were targeted? i think we had police officers in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone who didn t want to go to jail would rather shoot his way out, that s a sad commentary. reporter: these are the first police officers killed in the line of duty in hattiesburg in more than 30 years. that memorial service is planned for this afternoon. jose? gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. we re getting started on this edition of the rundown. coming up, a white principal in georgia under fire today after what some say were racist
leaving, all the black people. so, i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my heart is with these kids. i ve been teaching 30-something years. gorduek also responded to reaction over her comments. people always think the worst. you know, oh you say the word black, you know was i supposed to say african-american? were they all born in africa? no they re americans. and they live here. but i m not a racist. people that know me i worked with disadvantage kids like this that couldn t get through school. we help them get a high school diploma and we ve been doing it for 15 years. and our heart s in it. we re not against anyone and i ve never disrespected anyone. gorduek has apologized to her students and their families. she wrote an apology letter
of hail damaging winds, and tornados. this follows a wild weekend across the country of tornados flash floods, tropical storm, even snow, if you can believe that. take a look at the bottom left of your screen there. but east of dallas ten people are missing, dozens hurt after a suspected tornado touched down last night. also in texas, flash flooding being blamed for the death of one man swept away by fast moving waters. the national guard was called in to rescue people from their cars and homes. and in iowa there goes the school. that s not casey s, that s the [ bleep ] school. a tornado in lake city stripped off the roof of a high school. more than 100 people were inside for an awards ceremony but received enough warning to safely take shelter in the basement. in nashville, arkansas tornados being blamed for the deaths of two people there. let s go now to van, texas, where the weather channel has been checking out the damage. good morning. reporter: good morning, jose good mor
they live here. i m not a racist. people that know me i worked you know with disadvantage kids like that that couldn t get through school. we helped them get a high school dploem diploma. we ve been doing it a 15 years. our heart is in it. we re not against anyone. i ve never disrespected anyone. reporter: a lot of people disagreeing with her assessment this was not racially motivated and these were not racially charged remarks. she s received hundreds of angry e-mails. the story has blown up on social media. she is considering a leave of absence or appointing an interim brins principal. quickly, the valedictorian, black or white? reporter: african-american i believe. she says she feels this was not in a disrespectful way.
gotten a lot better and no delays in school no school closings sorry, kids. teachers and parents happy, jose? thank you, great to see you. turning now to georgia and the latest developments in a story that s got a lot of people talking. a controversy when she made what some say are racially charged comments during a high school graduation ceremony on friday. take a listen. not listen to this speech. nbc news spoke with her this morning and she seemed to have doubled down on her comments, take a listen. you say the word black, you know, what was i supposed to say, african-american, were they all born in africa? no they are americans, and they