Deadly shootings: West Point police investigate weekend violence
Investigators believe these 2 shootings are related, and may be connected to a nearly 2 year old case.
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – Law enforcement in West Point continued to investigate two separate shootings that left two people dead and several more injured.
26-year-old Kaelon Collins was arrested Sunday after turning himself in and has been charged with murder and four counts of attempted murder.
According to police, the first shooting happened near a gas station on the corner of North Division and Bugg Street around 1:30 pm Sunday, resulting in one person’s death.
The second shooting occurred in the North Mississippi Medical Center parking lot.
A 14-year-old was killed in that shooting at the hospital.
Investigators believed these two shootings were related, and may be connected to a nearly two-year-old case.
Police Chief Avery Cook said law enforcement and the public want to see the violence stop.
“That’s what they were, babies to get their life snuffed up from them from senseless gun violence,” said Cook.
Two related shootings in West Point left two people dead and multiple injured.
Law enforcement believes an altercation broke out at a bonfire, then escalated, carrying over into West Point.
The first shooting happened on the corner of North Division and Bugg Street killing one person.
The second shooting happened in the parking lot of the NMMC also killing one person.
Police Chief Cook said they continue to follow leads, but this investigation has several different aspects.
“You have to put all the parts together. You have two separate crime scenes and possibly three as we further investigate and you hear people talking in the community. You have people call and say they want to be involved but they don’t want to tell you this and that so you have to take all that put it together and work through what you can use and what you can’t use,” said Cook.
Cook said they believe this shooting is retaliation from a deadly shooting that happened in 2022 at the Timberlane Apartment Complex, killing 22-year-old Jerni White.
Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said his department is assisting with the investigation and providing any resources they have to the West Point Police Department.
“We’re all on board together. The community is upset they are in shock about this. Not only with the violence that occurred on our streets here in West Point but the scene at the hospital. The hospital is supposed to be a safe place where people go to be able to get taken care of so that really concerned us and I think we are going to be looking at some stuff here in the future,” said Scott.
Cook said the people behind the shooting are the ones they are trying to guide.
“The same kids that are doing this are the kids that we are putting in effort to save. That’s the tragedy. You got these movements out here trying to save these young people from themselves and they are the ones committing tragedy in our neighborhoods,” said Cook.
More arrests were expected to be made. Police were not releasing the names of the victims at this time.
The chief said there was no threat to the community.
If you have any more information, you can contact the West Point Police Department or Crimestoppers.
