MACON — There were jump shots inside and gunshots outside.
During Noxubee County High School’s home varsity girls basketball game against Columbus High School on Tuesday evening, three men reportedly opened fire in the parking lot outside the high school, damaging two vehicles and forcing the gymnasium to be evacuated.
Noxubee County School District Superintendent Rodriguez Broadnax said the three suspects are from the Columbus area and were angry about being denied entry to Tuesday’s games because the gym had already hit its attendance capacity, which was limited because of COVID-19.
A search for the three suspects is ongoing, Noxubee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dontevis Smith said.
The suspects’ names are known to local law enforcement, including the Macon and Columbus police departments, but were not released as of press time. Smith said the gunmen likely opened fire from the suspects’ car, a white Honda with damage to the front, as they left the high school.
Smith did not speculate on the charges the perpetrators would face once apprehended but said they would “possibly” be heightened because the shooting occurred on a school campus.
When Smith arrived on the scene late in Tuesday’s girls game, he informed Broadnax the superintendent needed to shut down the school and evacuate the gym. Broadnax and Noxubee County Athletic Director Karen Dixon pulled Tigers boys basketball coach Danny Crawford and Columbus boys coach Phillip Morris into the locker room area to let them know Tuesday’s boys game would be canceled and the gym evacuated.
“Safety is always our top priority,” Dixon said. “Of course, we want the young men to have the opportunity to play; however, safety is first.”
Shortly after 7:30 p.m. — once the girls game had ended in a 56-54 overtime win for Noxubee County — the public address announcer spread the news to a surprised crowd. Fans filed out the front door of the school while Columbus’ boys and girls teams packed their things in the locker room and were escorted to their buses in the school’s side lot.
Smith said one vehicle in that lot had sustained bullet damage to its side door; another car, a black Toyota sedan, was hit in both driver’s-side windows. Broken glass littered the ground while a few shards held steady in the front window frame, and a Brothers & Brothers tow truck arrived around 8:30 p.m. to roll the damaged cars away.
Smith said he believes the shooter was firing as the Honda headed west toward Highway 45 but is unsure. He said current surveillance footage from the high school painted an unclear picture and that further tapes should help clarify things.
“Until we get all the video footage from the school, we won’t be able to tell exactly which direction the bullets were coming from,” Smith said.
As of press time, the surveillance tape available to local law enforcement failed to give either a clear indication as to the model of the Honda or its license plate. But Smith said the suspects are three former Noxubee County residents who now live in Lowndes County. One previously spent time in the Noxubee County Jail.
Smith said the ongoing investigation is “extreme” and is focused on apprehending and questioning the perpetrators.
Broadnax and Dixon both thanked law enforcement for their roles in the evacuation and the search for the suspects.
“We thank our security team and our chief of police for really getting on top of this right away,” Broadnax told The Dispatch.
A few minutes later, though, the superintendent had one more thing to add.
“There will be no further games with Columbus anytime in the next 20 years,” he said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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