Bay St. Louis police calling for witnesses to mass shooting at after-prom party

Bay St. Louis Police are asking anyone who attended a prom after party to come forward to provide information about a mass shooting early Sunday morning that left two teens dead and four others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

The Police Department issued the following statement:

“The Bay St. Louis Police Department is requesting the assistance of any persons that attended the “prom after party” in Bay St. Louis, where the shooting incident occurred. It is crucial to the investigation and prosecution that Bay St. Louis Criminal Investigators make contact with as many attendees as possible, even if they believe they didn’t witness anything pertinent to the investigation. We appreciate our communities’ assistance as we work tirelessly to thoroughly investigate and bring justice to those affected. “

Partygoers should call the police at 228-466-5485.

Cameron Everest Brand, 19, of Pass Christian, was identified as the sole shooter. He is being held at the Hancock County jail on two counts of murder and four counts of aggravated assault, Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said in an earlier statement.

On Monday, Brand had an initial appearance before Municipal Judge Stephen Maggio.

The judge kept Brand’s bond set at $500,000 each on the aggravated assault charges for a total bond on those charges of $2 million and denied him bond on the two murder charges.

In addition, an attorney was appointed to represent Brand.

Bay police officers arrested Brand in the aftermath of the shooting Sunday at a home in the 1000 block of Old Blue Meadow Road at 12:34 a.m. Sunday.

At the home, police found the teens suffering from gunshot wounds, Schwartz said, and others were taken to local hospitals in personal vehicles.

The two teens who died at University Medical Center in New Orleans after the shooting have been identified as Hancock County High School senior De’Arreis “DD” Smith, 18, of Pearlington, and Hancock High student Haeleigh Stamper, 16.

Brand was arrested at his home in Pass Christian without incident the morning of the shooting.

This story was originally published May 2, 2023 at 10:25 AM.

Margaret Baker

Sun Herald

601-909-0541

Margaret is an investigative reporter whose search for truth exposed corrupt sheriffs, a police chief and various jailers and led to the first prosecution of a federal hate crime for the murder of a transgendered person. She worked on the Sun Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Hurricane Katrina team. When she pursues a big story, she is relentless.