Shooting is now a homicide

Published 9:53 am Thursday, March 9, 2017

A Vicksburg man who was shot in the head Tuesday night died early Wednesday morning at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, according to information from the Vicksburg Police Department.

Reginald Gaines, 30, 163 Elizabeth Circle, died about 2:07 a.m. Wednesday, almost four hours after he was shot while riding in a car travelling on U.S. 61 South.

The shooting was one of three occurring between 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.

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Gaines was sitting in the rear seat of a car traveling south on U.S. 61 South when he was shot in the head.

Police Capt. Sandra Williams said investigators were interviewing people Thursday “and we expect charges to be filed” in the shooting.

The preliminary investigation into the shooting indicate the occupants of the car in which Gaines was a passenger had been involved earlier in an argument with the occupants of another vehicle at a convenience store on U.S. 61 South. After he was shot, he was take in the car to Merit Health River Region and later airlifted to University Mississippi Medical Center where he dies.

Officials at Merit Health River Region called police about Gaines, and officers responded to the hospital. Several minutes after the shooting, police received a 911 call from a home on Buford Drive in Warren County that a man had been shot in the head.

About three hours after Gaines was shot, at 1:50 a.m., police received reports of shots being fired in the vicinity of the 3700 block of Halls Ferry Road. The victim said a vehicle was following him on Cain Ridge Road, shooting at his vehicle and striking it.

Police have several individuals detained presently in reference to both shootings.

Williams said investigators believe the reported shooting may be related to the shooting that killed Gaines.

In an unrelated shooting, a Vicksburg man faces charges of aggravated domestic violence in the shooting of his girlfriend during an argument near the intersection of First North Street and South Street.

DeShawn Williams, age 25, 502 Farmer St., is accused of shooting his girlfriend in the chest during the argument. The woman was taken to Rivber Region with what was termed a non life-threatening wound.

He was being held without bail at the Issaquena County Correctional Facility pending an initial appearance in Municipal Court.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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