Several guns seized, 5 people in custody for questioning

Published 7:32 pm Thursday, April 26, 2018

A call about a burglary in progress at the Warren County line Thursday afternoon resulted in five people being held for questioning, including a man believed to be wanted in Texas for armed robbery, and the seizure of a cache of rifles and ammunition from a home on Washington Street.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace declined to release the names of those being held pending positive identification.

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Deputies assisted by Vicksburg police investigators seized nine rifles and ammunition, including a 100-round magazine for a .233-caliber assault rifle. Authorities also seized a black Mazda and a Ford F-150 pickup.

Deputies were notified of the burglary about 3:30 p.m.

Pace said the burglars had left the scene by the time deputies responding to the call arrived, but witnesses gave the deputies descriptions of the cars seen at the scene of the theft.

Moments later, Vicksburg police officer Bryant Covington found one of the cars, the black Mazda, parked behind a house at 3110 Washington Street and notified the sheriff’s office. When Pace, who was the first county unit at the house, arrived, he saw a man looking at a safe reported taken in the burglary that was sitting in the driveway.

As he was taking the man into custody, two other men in the backyard of the house ran inside. Soon after the men ran inside, Pace said he saw a rifle barrel sticking out of a window from a side room.

“They had cut through the screen and stuck the rifle out, but no shots were fired,” he said.

When more officers arrived, the men who ran inside the house were taken into custody, as well as two other men found in the house. Another man ran from the house. The deputies executed a search warrant and found other weapons in the house.

Pace said the case remains under investigation.

“We know they are responsible for the burglary at the county line, but we do not know if they are involved in any other cases,” he said.

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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