One charged in dice game shooting
Published 12:35 am Saturday, June 6, 2015
A Vicksburg man accused of starting a shootout at a home on Buena Vista Drive where an illegal high-stakes dice game was taking place was held without bail Friday.
Jonathan Jackson, 27, 207 Starlight Drive, was arrested early Friday morning and charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling, Vicksburg police Capt. Sandra Williams said.
At least one other suspect in the shooting was on the lam Friday.
No one was wounded in the shooting at 12:55 a.m. May 28 in the 200 block of Buena Vista Drive where the dice game was taking place, Williams has said.
There were 11 people — seven men, a woman and three children — were in the home when the gunfight began, police have said.
Jackson and another suspect are believed to have fired from outside the home before people inside returned fire.
An argument over the illegal high-stakes dice game escalated into the shooting, Williams said. When investigators arrived they seized more than $10,000 in cash believed to have been used in the game.
Assistant District Attorney Bert Carraway is in the process of filing a civil forfeiture for the cash.
“I think a percentage of it will go to the state and a percentage will go to the police department,” Carraway said. “It can’t be used for payroll but it can be used for equipment.”
In 2014, the District Attorney’s Office helped VPD seize thousands of dollars in cash from drug transactions and other crimes, he said.
“It serves as a deterrent to those types of operation,” he said. “It shows you can’t make any money at it in the long run.”
Several handguns were recovered at the scene of the shooting, but police declined to release the number of weapons found. At least one gun had been reported stolen. Williams said it had been stolen from Tennessee in 1980.
No weapons charges had been filed Friday. Five people were arrested and charged with misdemeanor illegal gambling, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine following the shooting, Williams said.
Mississippi Gaming Commission agents were not used to investigate the case, and illegal gambling is typically handled in Vicksburg Municipal Court, she said.
Despite gaming being legal at four casinos in Vicksburg, illegal gambling, especially sports betting, is common in the city, Williams said.