State nor local officials have said how many bullets were fired when a Columbus police officer shot Ricky Ball on the night of Oct. 16. However, one stray bullet from the incident appears to have struck a woman’s 20th Street North home.
Sarah Gordon, who lives with her 12-year-old grandson near intersection of 20th Street North and 14th Avenue North intersection, said she was watching the news in her living room before bed that night when she heard a boom at her back door.
Gordon thought her grandson might have made the noise, or maybe some neighborhood children. But her grandson was in the bathroom.
“I opened the door and the glass in the window just started falling out,” Gordon told The Dispatch.
The bullet damaged Gordon’s metal door, but did not completely penetrate it.
Five months later, the damage is still there, surrounded by her storm door’s broken window. The shattered glass that fell out when she opened the door that night still covers the top step that leads into her house.
Gordon called the police the night the incident occurred. Gordon believes detectives removed the bullet from her door that night, because it was gone the next morning.
CPD Interim Chief Fred Shelton on Thursday confirmed Gordon’s report to The Dispatch. However, he could not offer specifics because the bullet hole in Gordon’s door is part of the Mississippi Investigation Bureau’s ongoing investigation into the Ball case.
MBI spokesperson Warren Strain, citing the investigation, also declined comment Thursday.
Gordon said she has not heard anything from the city since she reported the incident on Oct. 16.
Gordon lives in Ward 4. Marty Turner, the councilman for that ward, said he believes the city should replace Gordon’s door if the bullet was fired from a CPD officer’s gun. However, he said it needs to remain for now to let the investigation finish.
“I am going try to get the city to replace it,” Turner said. “I want to make sure the MBI investigation is fully done. That might be vital piece of it.
“Legally, we can’t do it because we can’t go on private property by law,” he added. “But if that bullet was lodged in the door from that (former police officer Canyon Boykin’s) gun, then I think we have a responsibility to fix it.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Related Photos
Columbus resident Sarah Gordon’s back door is pictured. The damage is a bullet hole from the night of the shooting death of Ricky Ball. Photo by: Luisa Porter/Dispatch Staff
