Backfire, not gunfire? So says man arrested near Camp Shelby
Perry County Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith said during questioning Baria admitted to driving in the area when the alleged shots were reported. But the 61-year-old Baria told authorities that it wasn’t gunshots at all, just the backfiring of his battered Isuzu.
Either way, Baria has been charged with four misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace related to the noises.
(CNN)For the second straight day, an unidentified man has fired gunshots near the Camp Shelby military post in southern Mississippi, the National Guard said Wednesday. No injuries were reported.
Baria’s son said he understood concerns about military safety, but said he felt officials were overreacting following repeated public statements about gunfire and a large police search.
Local and state authorities say they’re still checking out the father’s story, though Wednesday’s charges don’t allege he shot at soldiers. “It depends on what the investigation yields”.
County authorities and the military are looking for whoever fired the shots, described in both cases as a white male in a red pickup truck, Patterson said.
Gov. Phil Bryant is urging soldiers statewide to “defend themselves as necessary” after the second report of gunfire.
Shortly after soldiers reported the shots fired Wednesday morning, Lt. Col. Christian Patterson noted that the base is in the midst of a summer training exercise, hosting more than 4,600 active-duty soldiers. Colonel Greg Michel, Camp Shelby installation commander, said, “We can not control the actions of others”. Alfred Baria Jr. said his dad’s pickup backfires loudly every time someone shifts gears and steps on the gas.
Two people investigators questioned Tuesday in connection with another vehicle were later cleared in the case, Smith said. Small pipe containers with caps were for storing auto parts and hardware, he said, showing a reporter one on a shelf inside the shop.
Authorities pulled over Baria in his truck on Highway 29 after the Wednesday morning shooting, according to Smith.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officers have taken into custody a man they say is a “person of interest” in two shooting incidents near the Camp Shelby training facility in southern Mississippi.