Video: Starkville Alderman Reacts To Deadly Shooting

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Starkville Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn says Wednesday’s shooting that left two people dead is personal for him. One of the victims, Justin Vaughn, 32 is his nephew.

The gunfire happened in the alderman’s neighborhood – just feet from his home.

Vaughn says, “It really really hurts my heart because this is the ward I live in. This is the area I’ve been raised in all my life. I’ve lived here all my life. And it hurts to see this happen”

Vaughn says the crime scene’s close proximity to Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary School is also troubling.

He says, “It happened in broad daylight – I guess about 4 or 5 o’clock. What if some of those children would have gotten shot by some of those live bullets? What if someone child had gotten shot?”

Vaughn acknowledges that stopping this kind of violence has no easy answers, but says it has to start with getting a grip on the gun problem.

“There are too many guns on the street. We’ve got to get them off the streets.”

Vaughn also says he would like to see the landlords with property in the area crackdown on tenants and what he calls “bystanding” and “hanging out.” He sees that kind of behavior as part of the problem.