Former Columbus insurance agent Ken Ray Hargett faces a pair of felony charges after allegedly shooting into three neighbors’ homes in north Columbus early Sunday.
Two of the homes were occupied at the time of the shooting, Police Chief Fred Shelton confirmed — one had children inside and an elderly woman was inside the second.
Police arrested Hargett, 57, of Sweet Gum Lane — off Holly Hills Road — and charged him with shooting into an occupied dwelling and possession of cocaine.
Hargett independently operated an insurance agency selling ALFA products on Highway 45 through May 2017. In October, he became a licensed agent for bail soliciting and bail enforcement, according to the Mississippi Insurance Department website.
A Columbus Police Department press release says Hargett called police at 7:20 a.m. and reported a home invasion in progress. Hargett fired shots out of his back door and bedroom window before officers arrived, the release said. Those shots struck two different nearby residences.
No one was injured during the incident.
Upon arriving, police found no sign of someone trying to break into Hargett’s home, the release said. The Columbus-Lowndes Drug Task Force responded, however, and found cocaine in Hargett’s home, as well as several weapons that were taken into evidence.
“Anytime anyone shoots a weapon for any reason, the bullet is the responsibility of the person that shoots it,” Shelton said. “In this situation, the neighbors were put in danger, and we find no evidence that there was anyone trying to break into the home. That along with the illegal narcotics led us to charge him. That is why this man was arrested in this case.”
Hargett will appear before a judge on today for a bond hearing. He is being held in the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
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