According to a department release, responders found Shalanda Elaine Pope, 38, of Sylacauga dead at the scene after dispatchers received a call of shots fired around 4:20 a.m. Police officers discovered Pope inside a vehicle in the rear parking lot of Blue Bell near West Fourth Street and North Anniston Avenue.
Investigators said it appeared she had died from a single gunshot wound.
Michael Cornelius Milliner, 35, of Sylacauga was also found shot inside the same vehicle. Emergency services airlifted Milliner to University Hospitals in Birmingham.
Milliner underwent surgery Tuesday morning and was alive as of 4 p.m., according to a police investigator.
The release stated the shooting appeared to be domestic related. Pope and Milliner were previously married, according to initial information.
The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Talladega County Coroners Office and the Talladega County District Attorney’s Office are assisting Sylacauga police in the investigation.
Pope had been employed at Blue Bell for nine years. A release from the company stated she would be greatly missed by everyone who knew her, and expressed sorrow and regret for her loss on behalf of the company’s staff.
The statement said, “Shalanda was very passionate about her family and her work. She supported our local community as well as her fellow employees. She was one of the most experienced operators in our facility and always instilled her passion for quality into her work, and happily shared it with her co-workers. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.
“We would like to especially express our sympathy to Shalanda’s family, as well as all affected by this loss,” it stated. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
Police asked anyone with information concerning the case to call the department’s investigations division at 256-401-2464 or report anonymously to the automated tip line at 256-249-4716.
Contact Matt Quillen at mquillen@dailyhome.com.
Sylacauga Police Department should be ashamed of their selves she put in countless complaints and no action was takin now her life has been taken.. When will they start doing their jobs??
Its not a Domestic charge he killed her point blank period and should be punished t2 all extents of the law..
R.I.P MS. lama yuh will yuh be truly missed but never forgotten..
This is not the time to try and politicize what ever social agenda. The reality is a woman has died and we need to support the family. Throughout humanity there has been loss of life. We can't control it. We can't say who or what is to blame or why he did what he did. The Savior will sort that out in the next life. We need to take this opportunity to take stock of our lives and help this family in their time of need.