Mike R. McCollum

How they died

Less-than-lethal force

Mike R. McCollum held officers at bay for 10 hours before he died of smoke inhalation after a fire broke out inside his house. Smoke canisters that police lobbed into the home at around 6 p.m. caused McCollum's death, city fire marshal Robert Rocha said. According to Rocha, the smoke canisters shot sparks as hot as 1,400 degrees and apparently ignited a couch. Firefighters were already at the scene when the fire started at around 7 p.m., but Rocha said the smoke canisters made it difficult to tell there was a fire. It took firefighters about 10 minutes to enter the house and McCollum had died by then. Police later said they believed McCollum had killed Martin C. Morris, 42, and 39-year-old Leandre Gibson, 39, in separate incidents.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Mike R. McCollum, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources