Shooting suspect barricades himself inside Biloxi home, fires shots toward police
Biloxi police and assisting agencies are in a standoff with an armed man, who has been barricaded inside his mother’s house on Strangi Avenue since late Wednesday afternoon.
Division Street is blocked off from Holley Street to Penny Avenue.
John Anthon Little, 54, is facing arrest on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault on a police officer and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Police say Little shot a man who was in his apartment Wednesday afternoon, then forced a woman to drive him to Pass Road and Rodenberg Avenue.
Responding to a 911 call about the shooting, police could not locate Little on Rodenberg Avenue, Capt. Brian Dykes said. He said the man who was shot in the shoulder was taken to Merit Health for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.
Dykes said police officers located Little a couple of hours after the shooting. Little was walking along Division Street with a pistol pointed at his head, Dykes said.
Little failed to heed calls to stop.
Instead, he walked to his mother’s house on Strangi Avenue. She was on the phone with police, who told her to get out. She fled through the back door, and Little barricaded himself inside.
During the standoff, Dykes said, Little has twice fired multiple shots in the direction of the law enforcement officers outside.
“We keep telling him to come out,” Dykes said. “He keeps saying he’s going to come out, but he just never does.”
Dykes told the Sun Herald that officers will wait as long as it takes for Little to come out of the house peacefully.
“There’s no one he can harm other than himself, so we’re just trying to entice him out of the house in order to get a peaceful resolution.”
“ . . . Whatever his actions are dictate what our actions will be. It’s entirely up to him how this goes. We’re simply hoping that he chooses to end it peacefully.”
Just before 1 p.m. Thursday, Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich arrived on the scene and said he was going to try to talk the suspect into coming out after officers had tried “numerous” times. He said later Little did not answer the phone when he called.
Little has talked on the phone to countless people since the standoff began more than 24 hours ago, Dykes said, including family members, friends and friends of friends.
Little keeps telling the people he talks to that he plans to come out of the house with his hands up, Dykes said.
“We’re planning for a long ordeal,” Dykes said. “If that’s what it takes to get him out safely, that’s what we intend to do.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 12:07 PM.
