Alabama Police Officer Fatally Shot

Feb. 21, 2018
Mobile Police Officer Justin Billa was killed in a confrontation with a murder suspect Tuesday.

A Mobile, Alabama police officer was fatally shot in a confrontation with a murder suspect Tuesday night.

Officer Justin Billa approached Robert Hollie in the area of Crawford Lane and Avondale Court near Martin Luther King Avenue when the shooting occurred, according to WALA-TV.

Billa was wounded and rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators said Hollie killed his ex-wife, Fonda Poellnitz, earlier that night near her home on West Ridge Road. After shooting the officer, he barricaded himself in his home on Avondale Court.

SWAT officers surrounded the residence and Hollie began firing more rounds at them. Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said his officers returned fire and around three hours later, police found Hollie dead inside the house. It is unknown if Hollie's wounds were self-inflicted or by the shots fired by police.

Billa joined the Mobile Police Department in January 2016 and was named Officer of the Month in June 2016.

WALA-TV interviewed Billa that year about making building relationships in the community.

"We need to go back to helping people instead of just taking them to jail and creating bigger problems," he said. "That's my ideal of good policing and I feel like that's what the chief is working towards."

Billa leaves behind a wife and a one-year-old son.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Sponsored Recommendations

Build Your Real-Time Crime Center

March 19, 2024
A checklist for success

Whitepaper: A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

July 28, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge

A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

June 6, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge.

Listen to Real-Time Emergency 911 Calls in the Field

Feb. 8, 2023
Discover advanced technology that allows officers in the field to listen to emergency calls from their vehicles in real time and immediately identify the precise location of the...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Officer, create an account today!