Oktibbeha County sheriff’s deputies are searching for a suspect who allegedly shot at least one victim and may have fired at others in a Wednesday night incident in the Blackjack community.
Sheriff’s Office Lt. Brett Watson said deputies received a call at about 8:45 p.m. about a gunshot victim at the Sprint Mart at the Highway 182-Old Mayhew Road intersection east of Starkville. Deputies found a male victim at the convenience store suffering from non life-threatening wounds. The victim has since been treated at OCH Regional Medical Center and released.
However, Watson said the victim informed deputies about a second victim in the Blackjack community. Deputies spent the night tracking down the victim, and when they found him, he wasn’t injured.
Watson said the initial shooting victim told deputies that an unidentified black man, wearing black and described as approximately 5 feet, 7 inches tall, walked up to a group of individuals in the Blackjack area and began firing. Watson said the victim was allegedly injured in this incident before winding up at the Sprint Mart.
As of Thursday morning, deputies have not found any more evidence of the incident, Watson said.
“At this point, we cannot even confirm a location,” he said. “We went to the location where we were initially told this happened and spoke to multiple people who said they didn’t see or hear anything.”
Watson said OCSO is continuing to investigate the case and asked that anyone with information contact the department at 662-323-2421 or Golden Triangle Crimestoppers at 800-530-7151.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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