A woman and three young children narrowly escaped injury, or worse, Sunday when the early-morning stillness of a Charleston residential neighborhood was shattered by gunfire.
Three men have been arrested in connection with the shooting incident.
Police Chief John Page said both Sharrod Brown, 21, of 501 Murphy Road, Charleston, and Vinsa Taylor, 19, of 950 Oakland-Enid Road, Enid, are charged with four counts of aggravated assault, shooting into an occupied vehicle and discharging a firearm in the city limits. Each is being held on a bond of $100,000, Page noted.
Also arrested was Earl D. Morris, 21, of 306 N. Market St., Charleston, who is charged with accessory before and after the fact, running a stop sign and failure to yield to blue lights. Morris was released Monday afternoon after posting a bail bond of $10,000, said Page.
At about 4 a.m. Sunday, Brown and Taylor allegedly stood in front of a residence at 426 Dorothy St. and unleashed a barrage of gunfire toward the house.
“There were two cars sitting in the yard, and both were shot into,” Page said.
“A lady and three kids were in one of those cars. They just happened to be leaving that particular house when all of this took place.”
Page said the three children were ages 9 months, 4 years and 5 years.
The car in which the woman and children were sitting was peppered with a blast from a shotgun, and a bullet struck one of the vehicle’s window pillars, the chief explained.
Page said no one was injured, and the shooting lasted only seconds.
Police later found seven metal 9mm shell casings and one 12-gauge shotgun shell hull on the ground outside the home, he added.
Morris’ alleged role in the incident was as the driver of an older-model Lincoln in which Brown and Taylor allegedly were passengers.
Page said Morris is believed to have provided transportation to near the scene of the shooting, where he parked and waited while the men walked to and from Dorothy Street.
A police officer in the area heard the gunshots and a short time later saw the Lincoln speed through a stop sign. The officer gave chase, the chief explained.
The car stopped at 306 N. Market St. and two of the subjects ran into the house, where Morris and Taylor were arrested, said Page. They were booked into the Tallahatchie County Jail in Charleston at 4:33 a.m.
Police discovered a 9mm pistol with a 50-round magazine and a 12-gauge shotgun in the parked Lincoln, he added.
Brown was arrested less than three hours later at another location in the city, Page said.
Morris told police that a fourth person was in the vehicle Sunday morning but that he did not know the man’s identity.
As of Tuesday morning, Brown and Taylor were not cooperating with the police investigation, Page noted.
“Supposedly, all of this stemmed from a fight in Grenada Saturday night,” the chief said. “They were at a club over there and a fight broke out. All of the ones involved were from here, and they ended up coming back here with it.”
Page said law enforcement in Grenada were never called to the nightclub.
“Hopefully, this is the end of it. We don’t need anything like this here,” the chief noted. “I’m just so glad there was an officer in that area at the time of the shooting Sunday morning. If she hadn’t been there, we might have never known who was involved.”
