It’s a pressing question: What on earth can be done to curb the shooting incidents in Vicksburg? The problem is even more confounding when the shootings continue to happen in the same place – and during broad daylight, to boot.

When the latest incident happened Tuesday morning at the Fastway gas station on the corner of Clay and Cherry streets, it was sadly a pretty familiar scene: police tape surrounding the parking lot; officers combing the area for bullet casings and other evidence; and a bunch of people who heard the shots milling around the perimeter and comparing notes on what they’d seen and heard.

Everyone watching the aftermath of Tuesday’s shooting had the same bewildered look. It was the same looks people had in November when shots rang out in the same parking lot at nearly the same time of day. So, what’s to be done about this? 

Well, lots of suggestions have been tossed out, mostly online. And most of them have their merits. Some people are calling for a curfew; others want to see the gas station in question shut down. Still others blame police and city leadership. And while all of these “solutions” are worth taking a look at, let’s not be so quick to declare any one of them the correct answer to this ongoing issue.

As far as curfews go, there is one for minors currently in place. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen approve its renewal at regular meetings and there are penalties for breaking it. The only real way to go any further with it would be to implement a curfew on everyone, as Tallulah did a while back for a limited amount of time. But, is that what we want? Adults who can’t leave their houses between certain overnight hours?

When it comes to shutting down the business involved, we also need to pump the brakes on supporting any action that penalizes other innocent residents. As far as we know, the owners and/or operators of the Fastway haven’t done anything wrong. They may be as confused as the rest of us, and I’m fairly certain they’re just as, if not more, concerned about the violence.

In fact, for anyone needing an example of the repercussions of trying the shutter an existing business, the City of Vicksburg is still working its way through a lawsuit with Jacques’ nightclub after it sued in the wake of being shut down for months on end, also as a result of shootings in the parking lot of the establishment, in 2023.

As for blaming police and city leadership, go for it. At the end of the day, it’s their responsibility, but let’s also remember that neither Chief of Police Penny Jones, Mayor George Flaggs or any other city official has a crystal ball they are ignoring. Flaggs specifically has garnered a lot of criticism in recent months for suggesting crime in Vicksburg isn’t as prevalent as some purport. And fair enough, because shootings have certainly seen an uptick. There’s no denying that. But, let’s be real about this. Does anyone think declaring a state of emergency would have been a better course of action? 

Certainly there is some middle ground between those two extremes. But, what that may be seems murky at best right now. And I’m not claiming to know the answer; I’m simply saying, for the record, that all proposed courses of action – no matter how confidently they are typed on social media – have consequences. 

I’ll also say this: There are far more people that seem to know the answer online than there are participating in the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meetings or the town hall-style gatherings the Vicksburg Police Department has been holding. And I know not everyone can make a 10 a.m. meeting, or break free in the evenings to take part in a town hall, but I do think the more we can come together to discuss this situation, the more likely we are to come up with a solution.

Now, should it turn out the people running the Fastway have some hand in this recent pattern of violence – or the police and/or city are somehow complicit in it all – then we’d certainly have an easy avenue to correct it. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case. And we can’t punish other victims just because we’re mad. Again, holding others accountable – especially elected officials – isn’t just okay, it’s what should happen. But, turning on each other in the midst of a serious problem isn’t going to do anything but hurt us all.

So, back to the drawing board, I guess. Do you have ideas? Send us a letter to the editor. If we come at this problem together, I think we can find a solution. Because no matter what may seem up for debate about all of this, I know one thing for sure: Those of us wanting to fix the problem far outnumber those of us causing it. 

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.