Police on scene before stabbing; Moffett says case under investigation
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 25, 2002
[01/24/02]Vicksburg police were already on the scene when one of three women fighting at an apartment complex was stabbed, police and the victim said.
Latoya Jones, 20, 902 Hillcrest Drive, stabbed twice in the shoulder, spent one night at ParkView Regional Medical Center after Monday afternoon’s attack outside the office at New Main Apartments on Alcorn Drive.
Jones said police officers on the scene called her closer to them and Tamisha Stowers, 21, whom officers had also been questioning. Less than a minute later, she said, Stowers pulled what looked like a steak knife from her smock and stabbed Jones.
Stowers, who told police she lives in the complex, was charged with aggravated assault.
Police Chief Tommy Moffett said police officers’ handling of the situation is being investigated.
“I have to review our policies and interview officers to determine if procedures or common sense were followed as we dealt with the situation,” Moffett said Wednesday.
Fights and threats involving Jones, Stowers and another woman were reported to E911 about 3:30, neighbors said.
Jones said about 15 minutes elapsed between the time police arrived and the time she left the scene by ambulance. During that time, the three male uniformed police officers who responded searched and handcuffed the other woman involved in the fight, whom they did not identify, and left her in a cruiser while they questioned Stowers. She was released from the Warren County Jail Wednesday on $10,000 bond.
The police officers who responded to the fight were not identified.