Six people dead with multiple injured in three shootings at Mississippi homecoming weekends | Mississippi
Six people were killed and 18 others injured in three separate shootings during a high school’s homecoming celebrations in Mississippi, according to a number of local officials Saturday.
The deadliest incident occurred around midnight Friday in Leland, where four people died, John Lee, mayor of the small town in Washington County in western Mississippi, said Saturday morning. At least 16 people were injured in the incident, including four in critical condition who were airlifted to Jackson, the state capital, and 12 others who were treated at local hospitals.
Lee said one attack occurred on a main street in Leland, where crowds had gathered after the city’s high school homecoming game against Charleston High School.
Few details have been confirmed, but local media reported that state Sen. Derrick Simmons said the shooting took place at a post-game rally.
Simmons further said four people were flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in critical condition. No suspects have been named or details released, but no one was in custody Saturday afternoon in connection with the shooting.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating, local media reported.
About 200 miles southeast, in Heidelberg, another small Mississippi town, police were also investigating a shooting Saturday during the local school’s back-to-school weekend that left two people dead. Later, reports emerged of a third shooting Friday evening at South Delta High School in Rolling Fork, just 40 miles south of Leland in the Mississippi Delta in Sharkey County.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Sharkey County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested and charged two people in connection with the Rolling Fork shooting, where local media reported two people were injured.
Leland is a small city in Washington County, Mississippi, with a population of approximately 3,800 in 2023, according to Data USA.
A member of the Leland Police Department, who did not give a name, said in a statement that the incident was still under investigation and declined to provide further details.
The names of the victims have not yet been released.
“I just want to extend our condolences to the families of the deceased and all those who are being treated,” said Lee, the Leland mayor. “We must pray for our city.”
Separately, Heidelberg Police Chief Cornell White, speaking about the shooting at a school event in Jasper County, said two people were killed. He declined to say whether the victims were students or provide further information about the incident.
“Right now we still have a topic in general, but I can’t give specifics,” White said Saturday morning.
An 18-year-old man was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting at the scene, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
