Shooting in Ocean Springs restaurant parking lot may be accident, dispelling Facebook rumors
A Sunday night shooting in the parking lot of a popular Ocean Springs restaurant during the final hours of Black spring break may have been accidental, police told the Sun Herald.
Police have no evidence so far to suggest that a shooting that left a 22-year-old man injured is related to a series of shootings earlier in the day in Biloxi that left a police officer and four others injured, Capt. Ryan LeMaire said, dispelling claims made in the Ocean Springs Talk of the Town Facebook group that the two incidents were related.
In fact, the captain said, police are considering whether the 22-year-old man from D’Iberville who had a gunshot wound in the leg may have accidentally injured himself.
“So we are obviously still working it,” LeMaire said Monday. “We don’t have any suspects, and we are possibly thinking it may have been accidental — that he accidentally shot himself.”
The shooting happened downtown around 9:30 p.m. off Desoto Avenue in a parking lot behind the Scratch Kitchen restaurant, the officer said.
A large group of spring breakers was gathered downtown when an Ocean Springs police officer already policing the area heard the shot and responded.
The man was taken from the scene to Ocean Springs Hospital for treatment.
So far, LeMaire said, the man has not been cooperating with authorities investigating the incident, though police hope that will change.
In the meantime, Ocean Springs police are gathering camera footage from the downtown area and conducting interviews to determine exactly what happened.
The shooting in Ocean Springs occurred in the aftermath of multiple shootings near Highway 90 in Biloxi earlier Sunday on the last day of Black Spring break.
No arrests have been made in that shooting.
To report information, call Ocean Springs police at 228-875-2211 or Biloxi police at 228-435-6112, text ciu@biloxi.ms.us. or call Mississippi Coast Crimestoppers at 877-787-5898.
This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 11:35 AM.
