No arrests made in shooting near Legion
Published 7:32 pm Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Vicksburg police are continuing their investigation into the early Monday shooting of a 16-year-old boy on Monroe Street.
The teen was wounded in his left arm and taken to Merit Health River Region, where he was admitted for observation and released Tuesday, police said.
The shooting occurred after midnight Monday, minutes after a party at American Legion Post 3 hall was closed down, causing Mayor George Flaggs Jr. to order the hall closed pending a meeting with him, Police Chief Milton Moore and Legion officials Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Initial information indicated the shooting occurred in the parking lot after a fight during the party, but Legionnaires who were at the party said they heard a shot north of the Post on Monroe Street near Fisher Funeral Home.
They said the wounded teen came running to the Legion Hall from the direction of the funeral home, saying he had been shot.
Richard Stanley, a member of the Legion’s executive committee, said Monday two fights occurred inside the hall during the party, one at 11:32 p.m. Friday involving two men, and another fight several minutes later involving two women. He said the people involved in the first fight were escorted off the property by security officers.
After the second fight, he said, “We shut it down.”
Surveillance video at the hall shows the interior lights going on and the party’s promoter and security guards announcing the end of the party about 11:53 p.m., Friday, and the Legion hall was cleared about 12:05 a.m. Monday.
At the same time the party was stopped, Stanley said, police were called to help with traffic, and a police investigator arrived to help with crowd control.
Surveillance video of the crowd leaving the building shows people milling in the parking lot and a security guard trying to get them to leave.
About 12:09 a.m., Post commander Shawn Cosgrove, who was in the parking lot, said a single gunshot was heard in the area, and the video shows people looking north, then running for cover. They quickly got in their cars and left.
Flaggs said Moore notified him about the shooting and he told Moore to close the post. Flaggs said the post will be allowed to reopen after Legion representatives provide a safety and security plan for the building and future events.