6 killed in two shootings at Mississippi school homecoming celebrations

LELAND, Miss. — High school homecoming celebrations in Mississippi ended in gunfire, with two 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. On the eastern side of the state, a pregnant woman was among the dead in Heidelberg, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said.

In Leland, about 20 people were injured in the gunfire after people gathered in the downtown area after 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. He was being updated on developments from law enforcement authorities in the Delta.

On Saturday, pieces of tattered, yellow crime scene tape were wrapped around a pole in the city’s tiny downtown area. The police tape could also be seen in front of a boarded-up storefront, tangled up at the base of a sign commemorating the late soul singer Tyrone Davis, who was born nearby.

The crime scene is not far from City Hall, where family members gathered to seek answers. The media was not allowed inside.

“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.

He said 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,” Simmons said. “What we are experiencing now is just a proliferation of guns just being in circulation.”

No arrests have been announced, and the Democratic lawmaker said late Saturday morning that he had not heard any information about possible suspects.

“They are on the ground working, and I have all the faith in the world that they will get to the bottom of this,” he said.

“As the state senator for the area, we are asking any and all individuals who might have any information regarding the horrific shooting last night to come forward and provide whatever information they have,” he added.

Meanwhile in eastern Mississippi, police in the small town of Heidelberg are investigating a shooting during that community’s homecoming weekend that left two people dead.

Both were killed on the Heidelberg High School campus Friday night, Heidelberg Police Chief Cornell White told the Associated Press. He declined to say whether the victims were students or provide other information.

“Right now we’ve still got a subject at large, but I can’t give specifics,” White said Saturday morning.

An 18-year-old man is being sought for questioning in the shooting, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The sheriff asked that anyone with information contact the police chief or Sheriff’s Office.

The shooting happened on the campus where the Heidelberg Oilers were playing their homecoming football game. The town of about 640 residents is about 85 miles southeast of Jackson.

It wasn’t clear exactly when the gunfire occurred or how close it was to the stadium. White said that he was at the scene Saturday investigating and that more information might be released in coming days.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is helping local and federal law enforcement agencies in investigating, the governor said.

“Our state is praying for the victims and their families, as well as the entire Heidelberg and Leland communities,” Reeves said in a social media post. “Those responsible will be brought to justice.”

In Sharkey County, also in the Mississippi Delta region, the local sheriff was investigating yet another shooting after a high school football game in the area, authorities said.

Two people have been arrested in that shooting, which happened at a school after its game Friday night, Sharkey County Sheriff Herbert Ceaser Sr. said in a statement.

The statement did not include any information on possible injuries, but said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family during this incredibly difficult time.” The sheriff couldn’t immediately be reached for more information on Saturday.

Adkins and Martin write for the Associated Press.