Gulfport shooting suspect asked bartender to call 911 before driving off, bar owner says
Shortly after midnight Sunday, the owner of Skeeter’s Bar and Grill got a call from police about a shooting in the parking lot of the business.
When Gulfport police responded to the 11:35 p.m call in the 100 block of Tegarden Road, they found a man with a gunshot wound in the parking lot.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
“When I got the call last night, I immediately went up there to release the camera footage so Gulfport police can apprehend these people,” Skeeter’s owner, Jennifer Wilson, said Monday. “They were not our customers. They just pulled up and unfortunately used our parking lot to do this.”
She said the footage shows a white car backing into the parking lot before three people get out of the car.
Once the three got out, she said, “one of the passengers in the vehicle decided to shoot the other.”
The alleged shooter, she said, then walked inside Skeeter’s and asked the bartender to call police and an ambulance.
“It’s as clear as day on the video,” she said. “It was the one that shot the other that walked in and asked our bartender to call the police and to get the ambulance. Then, he got back in his car and left.”
She said the shooting victim was still in the parking lot when the shooter drove off.
“It’s horrible,” she said. “It’s horrible for everybody involved. We are praying for this gentleman who as of early this morning was still alive. We are praying that recovers and that Gulfport gets the right person.”
The owners are working closely with Gulfport police to provide all camera footage of the shooting.
The bar and grill was close to closing time and went ahead and shut down once the shooting happened, Wilson said, though it had nothing to do with any of their patrons.
“This was obviously something between them,” she said. “It just unfortunately happened on our property.”
In a video taken outside the bar in the aftermath of the assault, a ambulance is seen in the parking lot near the shooting victim and police officer is standing close by.
Anyone with information is asked to call Gulfport police at 228-868-5959 or anonymously call Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 10:36 AM.
