Keith Charles Sandidge, 54, of Columbia has received 13 total charges for allegedly killing his sister, Sherralann Longmire, and firing at police officers Friday night before being captured after an 11-hour standoff at 414 Mary St. in the early morning hours of Saturday.
Sandidge has been charged with aggravated assault with use of a deadly weapon, seven counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, four counts of shooting at a motor vehicle (two counts for civilian vehicles and two counts for CPD vehicles), shooting into a dwelling and aggravated assault. He made his initial appearance before Justice Court Judge Brandon Rowell Tuesday afternoon and was denied bond on each of the 13 charges.
Those are all of the charges the CPD will be pursuing in this case. However, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the murder charge and will be taking that charge to a grand jury. Columbia Police Chief Michael Kelly said there is no doubt in his mind that Sandidge will be charged with murder, but he cannot speculate on when it will happen.
Friday night around 6:30, Columbia Dispatch received a call from Longmire about a domestic dispute to report Sandidge’s erratic behavior, and Kelly said she was graceful during that call.
“She just wanted to get her brother some help,” he said.
Sandidge began firing at police officers immediately as they surrounded Longmire’s home, which Sandidge lived at. His gunfire struck two patrol vehicles, two civilian vehicles and the residence next door, according to a press release issued by the CPD Monday, but nobody was hit by shots. The gunfire ceased as law enforcement coordinated and tried to negotiate Sandidge’s surrender.
An 11-hour standoff ensued as Sandidge hid from police and refused to surrender. One of the reasons the standoff lasted so long, according to Kelly, is law enforcement believed Longmire may have still been alive. However, he said the belief now is that Longmire was killed during Sandidge’s initial round of gunfire. Kelly said he is 100% confident that Sandidge is the one who killed Longmire.
Kelly interviewed the family after he notified them of Longmire’s death early Saturday morning and said he learned of a “spider hole” Sandidge had built into the house with a trap door that leads to underneath the stairwell. Kelly said the U.S. Marshals used a robot with a camera to locate him under the house, and Kelly watched a live video feed of him being captured and arrested shortly before 7 a.m.
During Sandidge’s initial appearance, Rowell read the names of the seven officers who were fired at by Sandidge, which led to his seven charges of aggravated assault on a police officer. Kelly said he was emotional hearing the names because any one of them could have been killed as well as the civilians who were surrounding the area.
“It was a senseless act of violence,” he said. “She was his caretaker. She was the one person on this planet that would come to his rescue. This just doesn’t make sense to any of us that this tragedy had to happen because she loved him. Her family said that she would lose her life taking care of him; that’s how much she loved him and wanted to take care of her brother.”
Kelly said the CPD only had to make three phone calls, and more than 100 law enforcement officers responded from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Highway Patrol SWAT Team, the U.S. Marshals, Pearl River County Sheriff SWAT Team, Lamar County SWAT Team, MBI, MBN and other state and local partners.
“It was sight to see that many people come together to try and save this lady, and it’s a tragedy that we weren’t able to get that done,” Kelly said.
Kelly said on scene Friday night that officers have been trying to get Sandidge help for two years and tried to connect him with Veterans Affairs.
Sandidge’s preliminary hearing will be held June 9 at the Justice Court Building at 9 a.m. He has been assigned T. Michael Kuykendall as his public defender.
