Three 19-year-old males, including a recent Gentry High School graduate, died early Sunday morning in a mass shooting on Church Street in Indianola.
Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton confirmed to The Enterprise-Tocsin that Areon Butler, a member of the Class of 2024 here, died at the scene just after 12:50 a.m. on Sunday.
The other two deceased are Cameron Lee Butts and Marquette Baites, both of Greenville.
The Indianola Police Department also confirmed that as many as 16 others were shot directly or by ricochet bullets during the massacre.
Anywhere from two to four victims were flown out this morning by helicopter, while others were treated at South Sunflower County Hospital.
IPD Chief Ronald Sampson said that as of 10 a.m. there is still no motive or suspect or suspects in the shooting.
“Several people said that they were standing out there, and they started to hear gunshots,” Sampson said. “Nobody has really given us anything solid.”
It is still very early in the investigation, and official interviews with witnesses and victims should begin in the next 24 hours, police said.
Sampson said that prior to the shooting, there was a large crowd of people gathered around a club on Church Street.
Police officers were on the scene when the shooting began. Sampson said that officers were in the process of setting up barricades at Second Street and Church Street to help the flow of traffic and to clear the grounds of the nearby Sunflower County Courthouse.
Sampson said that when the shooting occurred, multiple off-duty officers came to the scene to assist first responders.
He said that the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department also assisted, as well as the Indianola Fire Department.
Dozens of live and spent bullets were found at the scene.
Crime has been a hot topic in Indianola of late, especially after a night and morning of shootings and property damage occurred over the Memorial Day weekend.
This will likely be a topic of discussion when the city’s elected officials hold their regular board meeting on Monday night.
Sampson said that he plans to push for an earlier curfew, something that was floated by Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi several weeks ago, as well as pulling the licenses of what he describes as problem businesses within the city.
“The owners are letting anybody in their club and it’s a problem,” Sampson said, adding that the city’s ordinances allow for the city to revoke business licenses. “I’m hoping they think about that and pull those licenses.”
