The gunman who shot a Memphis police officer at a traffic stop this past weekend has been identified as Tremaine Wilbourn, a 29-year-old drug dealer.

Sean Bolton, a police officer in Memphis, Tennessee, was shot on Saturday night at the intersection of Cottonwood Road and S. Perkins Road in Parkway Village.

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The shooting occured after Bolton spotted a Mercedes Benz 2002 model parked on a roadside illegally and walked towards the car to interrogate its occupants. 

"Wilbourn was busy in a drug deal and after the two men argued for a while, Wilbourn pulled out the gun and shot Bolton," said the driver of the Mercedes. He was caught by the police and has been a key witness in the murder case.

The shooter faces first degree murder charges and the police department is searching for him frantically.

"The men and women in blue have certain rules of engagement they have to follow, but at any given minute in a 24-hour day they're dealing with folks who have no rules of engagement," said Memphis Mayor A. C. Wharton Jr.

The statement by Wharton Jr. clearly indicates the frustration lingering within the police fraternity about the murdering of cops. According to Wharton, this shooting and several others in the past few days prove that the wrong individuals have access to guns.

In the past four years, three police officers from Memphis - including Bolton - have been shot dead. 

Tim Warren was killed in July 2011 while responding to a shooting at a downtown Memphis hotel. Also, Martoiya Lang was killed in December 2012 while serving a warrant.

Memphis Director of Police Services Toney Armstrong said Bolton had interrupted a drug deal and was killed for less than two grams of marijuana. Under the current laws, the possession of this amount of marijuana would have led to the registration of a case as a misconduct and a fine for the shooter.

"He's a coward. You gunned down. You murdered a police officer for less than two grams of marijuana. You literally destroyed a family," Armstrong said.

Police say the suspect is armed and dangerous. The office of the U.S. Marshal has agreed to work with the state police department to nab him. The shooter is reportedly on a supervised release from a 121-month sentence for robbing a banking institution.

On Sunday, police officers searched an apartment complex located in southeast Memphis - just three miles from the crime scene. No one was found in the complex.

The U.S. Marshal has announced a reward of $10,000 and the city government could add another $10,000 for any information leading to the arrest of Wilbourn.

"As a community, we often ask - do black lives matter?" said Armstrong. "All lives matter irrespective of race, creed, color, economic status and profession. All lives matter and shooting of another police officer is just a reminder of how dangerous this job is."

A report released by National Law Enforcement Memorial Officers Fund in December 2014 clearly indicates that the percentage of law enforcement officers being killed by firearms in the U.S. has risen by 56 percent. The report announced the death of 50 officers by guns in the U.S. in 2014 compared to 32 deaths in 2013.

TagsMemphis Police Officer Shot, Enforcement Officers Being Killed In the U.S., Sean Bolton, Tremaine Wilbourn