Community tips lead to 4 arrests in New Year’s Eve mass shooting outside Gulfport home
Gulfport police worked with the community to identify the suspects arrested in a quadruple homicide that occurred during a mass shooting on New Year’s Eve outside a Gaston Point residence.
Police Chief Chris Ryle announced the arrests during a press conference Friday afternoon.
Ryle said the investigation uncovered what appeared to be some gang-related ties among those allegedly involved in the incident.
The arrest came, he said, as a result of “investigators working around the clock with members of the community to determine what occurred prior to, during and after” the shooting.
Those arrested and their charges are:
▪ Mario Clark, 23, arrested on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of shooting into a dwelling.
▪ Vincent Jaquan Armstrong, 18, arrested on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of shooting into a dwelling.
▪ Khalid Williams, 26, arrested on one count of second-degree murder, two counts of shooting into a dwelling, and one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
A fourth suspect, identified as Isavian Preston, 23, is currently in custody on unrelated charges in Kentucky and is facing one count each of first- and second-degree murder.
“I want to thank the community,” Ryle said. “I cannot say enough about the Gaston Point community. The community said enough is enough and reached out to the Police Department to provide valuable information which has brought us here today. I look forward to our continued partnership.”
The police chief also thanked Councilman Truck Casey and Extend a Hand, Help a Friend CEO Jeffery Hulum III for their help working with police during the investigation.
”I’m on the same page as the chief of police,” Casey said. “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there, and I take my hat off to the people who stepped up so far and are talking about what happened.”
The shooting, Casey said, appears to be more of an isolated incident in Gaston Point. ”Gaston Point is a wonderful community,” he said.
The chief also thanked the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and Long Beach Police Department for assisting in the investigation.
The shooting happened just before midnight on New Year’s Eve outside a home on Lewis Street near 0ld Pass Road in a quiet residential area in the Gaston Point community.
Police started investigating after responding to a series of 911 calls about over 50 shots being fired outside the home where Ryle said those involved had been attending an alcohol and drug-fueled party.
The shooting happened after some of the party goers got into an argument that escalated into a mass shooting.
At the scene, police identified seven shooting victims, four of whom died of gunshot wounds. Police later said at least two of the homicide victims had a criminal history and had exchanged gunfire with the suspects at the scene.
More than two dozen people had attended the party, Ryle said, though it’s still unclear what prompted the initial argument.
Ryle had earlier described such a gathering involving alcohol, drugs and guns as a “recipe for disaster” and said that’s exactly what played out the night of the shooting.
Seven people were shot, four of whom died.
Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer identified the dead as:
- Corey Dubose, 23, of D’Iberville
- Sedrick McCord, 28, of Gulfport
- Aubrey Lewis, 22, of Bay St. Louis
- Nathaniel Harris, 52, of Gulfport
With those killings, the city saw a total of 16 homicides in 2021.
The shooting happened in the aftermath of several meetings Gulfport police held with members of the community to help rebuild trust between residents and police in an effort to curb violence in the city.
In June, Ryle said, the Police Department had stepped up street patrols in high-crime areas in the city, something that before the mass shooting in December had helped lead to a 50% reduction in the number of aggravated assaults reported in the city since that time.
After the New Year’s Eve shooting, Gulfport police put even more police officers on the streets to help continue efforts to reduce violent crime.
Those added police patrols will continue, Ryle said.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 5:25 PM.
