Two shootings in three days at a home on the outskirts of Vicksburg’s Fostoria neighborhood – as well as a third incident of gunfire in nearby Marcus Bottom during the same timeframe – prompted residents to organize a community meeting Wednesday night at Oak Hall Bed and Breakfast.

Attended by members of the Vicksburg Police Department (VPD), the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Warren County Supervisor Shawn Jackson, residents used the meeting to voice concerns over what is being done about the rash of shootings, as well as what can be done to prevent further violence in the neighborhood.

Fostoria homeowner Anna Guizerix said the meeting was organized on short notice in order to quickly address the three latest incidents – shootings that she said are just the latest in a continuing trend of criminal activity in the area.

“There’s no guarantee, even though you’re not the target, that you won’t get caught in the crossfire,” Guizerix said. “I should not hear gunshots in my neighborhood. It scared me bad enough that I’m considering my options about whether I should keep living here, and I love Fostoria.”

Guizerix was one of many residents who spoke up at Wednesday’s meeting, saying the issues of gun violence, drugs and other criminal activity have been going on far too long in neighborhoods across Vicksburg, including Fostoria.

The most recent incidents of the gunfire took place Sunday night and Tuesday afternoon, with two of the three shootings occurring around a home located at 1107 Speed Street. During Wednesday’s meeting, residents asked members of VPD why more wasn’t being done to control traffic in and out of the property, where many suspect drugs are acting as a catalyst for the violence.

“This has been talked about and we, as a neighborhood, even offered to buy the cameras to focus on that house and we were turned down to say that, no, the city could not just focus on one property,” one resident explained. “So we, as neighbors, have been aware of this problem for years. We’ve been here 20 years, and that was with regards to the drug problem. That house is the source. It has been for many, many years.”

Following the second shooting near the Speed Street home Tuesday afternoon, VPD set up a mobile camera that Chief of Police Penny Jones said monitors the entire block and provides a live feed for officers to monitor. 

“We have to be careful about infringing on someone’s rights,” Jones said. “I lived on this street, too. Don’t think that we haven’t done anything, or haven’t tried to do anything with that house. But, we have to be careful in what we do.”

Jones said the recent violence surrounding the home is under active investigation.

“I wouldn’t say (Vicksburg crime) is gang related,” she said Wednesday. “I would say it’s more related to people who have issues with one another, same as what’s going on with that particular house right now. It’s not reflective of the neighborhood. It’s issues that he has with someone else and we are diligently working on that.”

VPD Lt. Curtis J. Judge explained the key to arrests, in many cases, lies in building enough evidence to have a reason for officers to enter problematic locations, such as the Speed Street home. Judge said eyewitness accounts always help in those efforts, but the addition of better camera equipment is expected to provide a big leap forward for investigators.

Vicksburg Alderman Alex Monsour – who heads up the city’s IT department – said the issue of outdated cameras is being addressed through the acquisition of technologically advanced NOLA cameras, which are able to capture details current city cameras are not capable of recording.

“The corner of Letitia and Speed, we have (a NOLA camera) in stock to put on your corner,” Monsour said. “It’s already designated to go there and we have three others designated to go to three other streets. Right now, the City of Vicksburg has 265 cameras out across the city. Thirty-six of them are NOLA cameras. The other four are dedicated.”

Monsour said installing NOLA cameras has been delayed by Entergy – which he said originally agreed to allow the city to use existing power poles, but has since reversed course.

“So now, we have to go get a pole, run power to, have it installed ourselves,” he said. “It’s become very monotonous, because Energy will not let us put them on those poles.”

But Monsour maintained the extended reach and clarity of the new cameras will make a difference in the cases Judge said VPD is trying to build against those believed to be contributing to the continued gun violence.

“These cameras we have now, you can only tell what color a car is and maybe what kind of car it is, but these NOLA cameras can read the license plate. They can read what’s written on a pill in someone’s hand from 100 yards away.”