Leland, Miss.. LELAND, Miss. (AP) — Four people were killed in a shooting in a small town in the Mississippi Delta region after a high school football game there, a state senator said Saturday.
Mississippi State Senator Derek Simmons, who represents people in that area, said the shooting occurred in the downtown area of the small city of Leland, Mississippi, where people gathered after the game.
Four other victims who were among about 20 people injured in the shooting were taken to a hospital in Greenville, then airlifted to a larger hospital in the state capital of Jackson, where they were in critical condition, Simmons told The Associated Press.
Simmons said he is confident the information is accurate because he has received updates from authorities at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, which is conducting the investigation, as well as from other law enforcement.
“People were congregating and having a good time in downtown Leland,” Simons said of the town, which has a population of less than 4,000.
He was told that after the shooting, the scene was “very chaotic,” with police, sheriff’s deputies and ambulances responding “from everywhere.”
He added: “It’s just senseless armed violence.” “What we are seeing now is just a proliferation of weapons being circulated.”
No arrests have been announced, and Simmons said late Saturday morning he had not heard any information about possible suspects.
“They are working on the ground and I have all the confidence in the world that they will get to the bottom of the matter,” he said.
“As the district’s senator, we are asking all individuals who may have any information regarding last night’s horrific shooting to come forward and provide any information they have,” he added.