Victims in shooting were ‘ambushed’ by man with shotgun at Bay apartments, chief says
A shooting that left two young people dead and one seriously injured appears to have been “a random act of violence,” Bay. St. Louis Police Chief Gary Ponthieux said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Jason Michel, 23, took a shotgun from a relative’s apartment before 8 p.m. Wednesday at Bay Park Apartments in Bay St. Louis, then ambushed a group of young people pulling into the parking lot, Ponthieux said.
Cheyanne Schultz, 19, died of a gunshot wound Wednesday night, while Morgan Landry, 23, died Thursday morning in an area hospital. Andrew Rodgers, 22, was hospitalized in critical condition.
A fourth victim, Sidney Foster, 24, suffered minor injuries.
Ponthieux said he does not believe the victims and suspect were acquainted.
“Everything right now is leading to a random act of violence, senseless violence,” he said.
Ponthieux said Michel fled in Landry’s Pontiac Grand Prix. Michel then drove to a convenience store on Mississippi 603 in Waveland. He jumped out of the Grand Prix and car-jacked a couple in a white Chevrolet Silverado, Ponthieux said.
The two people in the pickup, who were not identified, were uninjured.
Michel will be charged with two counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault, two counts of carjacking and one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. The Waveland Police Department will be charging Michel with the second count of carjacking.
Michel has a previous felony conviction for burglary. While he is being held on a $3.6 million bond, Michel is ineligible for release because he is on parole.
Ponthieux said that Michel’s relative at the apartment complex was apparently unaware he took the shotgun or had any plans for a carjacking. The police chief does not expect anyone else will be charged in the case.
Michel had no fixed address, law enforcement officers said. He sometimes stayed with the relative at Bay Park. But after the shooting and carjackings, Ponthieux said, Michel drove to his mother’s house in the Hancock County community of Bayside Park.
Michel’s mother turned him in. She called law enforcement authorities, saying he had a shotgun and was covered in blood.
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office picked him up, pulling all three of the county’s law enforcement agencies into the investigation.
Sheriff Ricky Adam and Waveland Police Chief Michael Prendergrast, along with investigators from all three departments, flanked Ponthieux at the news conference.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
