Man shot at 4 Hancock High students before multi-city police chase that ended in gunfire
A Pass Christian man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted on nine felony charges stemming from a road rage incident in June 2021.
Rudy Desmond Toler, 42, was sentenced last Thursday after being found guilty of the crime that occurred along Highway 90 from Long Beach to Gulfport, according to District Attorney W. Crosby Parker.
Parker said in a press release that Toler aimed a pistol from his vehicle at four Hancock High School students as he passed them on Highway 90.
Toler then drove ahead into the Walmart in Pass Christian and fired his weapon at the students as they were on the phone with 911. The bullet into the right front tire and caused the tire to go flat.
Long Beach police spotted the vehicles in question within seconds of the fired shot and began pursuing Toler. Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker said Toler “reached speeds of over 90 miles per hour, ran red lights and stop signs and almost struck a small child on a bike on Woodward Avenue.”
Toler fled into the residential area around Memorial Hospital. Body cam footage showed two shots being fired by Toler at the pursuing police officers as he turned onto Railroad Street. He then made a U-turn maneuver and aimed his weapon at the officers.
The officers fired at Toler, striking him once in the head. Toler sustained a graze-wound injury and immediately dropped his weapon.
Toler argued at trial that he was depressed and suicidal. The defense argued he did not intend to hurt the kids, but scare them, and that he did not aim at the police officers, but shot at the ground in hopes they would return fire and kill him in a “suicide by cop” scenario.
“The jury’s decision in this case is a result of four high school students, who had the presence of mind to call 911 when faced with danger, and the courage to come to court and testify against their assailant,” Parker said. “I cannot say enough about the brave officers of the Long Beach and Gulfport Police Departments, who came to their aid, put themselves in harm’s way, and performed their duty to protect and serve with the utmost professionalism.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 9:50 AM.
