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High school homecoming celebrations in Mississippi ended in gunfire, with two separate shootings on opposite sides of the state Friday night that left at least six people dead and many more injured, authorities said.
Four of the dead were killed in downtown Leland, after a high school football homecoming game in the Mississippi Delta region on the state’s western edge, a state senator said Saturday.
About 20 people were injured in the gunfire after people gathered in downtown Leland following the game, state Sen. Derrick Simmons said. Of the 20 wounded, four were in critical condition and flown from a hospital in nearby Greenville to a larger medical center in the state capital city of Jackson, Simmons told The Associated Press.
Simmons said he was being updated on developments by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office as well as from other law enforcement authorities in the Delta.
“People were just congregating and having a good time in the downtown of Leland,” Simmons said of the town with a population of fewer than 4,000 people.
He was told that after the gunfire, the scene was “very chaotic,” as police, sheriff’s deputies and ambulances “responded from all over.”
“It’s just senseless gun violence,” he said. “What we are experiencing now is just a proliferation of guns just being in circulation.”
No suspects have been arrested, and police are investigating the incident. Authorities have urged witnesses to come forward with any information that could help identify those responsible.
Officials said the festivities turned chaotic when gunfire erupted, leaving multiple casualties and widespread panic. The identities of the victims have not been released pending family notification.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMississippi authorities are also searching for an 18-year-old man wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting, according to the Associated Press.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said the gunfire took place on the school campus during the Heidelberg Oilers’ homecoming game. It remains unclear exactly when the shooting occurred or how close it was to the stadium.
With inputs from agencies