Two suspects in dark clothing opened fire near a busy gas station along U.S. Highway 61 in Tunica, Mississippi on Tuesday evening, then vanished on foot into a nearby subdivision before deputies could reach the scene. No one was hit by the gunfire, but the shooters remain unidentified and at large as investigators comb through surveillance footage for clues.
According to the Tunica County Sheriff's Office, the department received a 911 call around 5:31 p.m. Tuesday reporting shots fired at 2066 U.S. Highway 61, the address of Marathon Gas, also known as Watson's Store. Deputies who responded secured the area and confirmed no individuals had been shot, the sheriff's office said. Investigators later reviewed surveillance footage and identified two suspects firing shots from the intersection of Prichard Road and U.S. Highway 61 South before fleeing on foot toward the Old Subdivision on Prichard Road, according to the same press release.
Regional outlet Darkhorse Press reported additional detail from that surveillance review, noting the two suspects were dressed in dark clothing and had positioned themselves at the intersection before opening fire and running toward the subdivision. The sheriff's office says the investigation remains active and ongoing, and officials are urging anyone with information to come forward.
A Familiar Stretch of Road
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted along the Prichard Road corridor this year. Five months earlier, on March 8, deputies responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired on Prichard Road in the area known locally as the Old Sub, and pursued a fleeing black Infiniti in a vehicle chase, per the sheriff's office's own records. That same weekend in early March, deputies investigated four separate shooting incidents across Tunica and Robinsonville that left three people wounded, the sheriff's office reported at the time.
The gas station shooting also comes just two days after Tunica County authorities opened a homicide investigation into the death of an 18-year-old high school senior found fatally shot in a wooded area near Harrah's Parkway, as Darkhorse Press Hoodline previously reported. Authorities offered a separate $1,000 CrimeStoppers reward in that case as well. It remains unknown whether the two incidents are connected in any way, and no such link has been established by investigators.
Statutes That Could Apply
Mississippi law treats gunfire like Tuesday's shooting as serious business regardless of whether anyone is struck. Under Mississippi Code § 97-3-109, a drive-by shooting involving discharging a firearm with reckless indifference to human life is classified as a violent felony carrying penalties of up to 30 years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, according to Justia Law. Separately, Mississippi Code § 97-37-29 makes it a felony to unlawfully discharge a firearm into any occupied store or commercial building, whether or not anyone inside is hit, per FindLaw. Neither suspect has been identified or charged as of publication.
Tip Line and Local Context
The Tunica County Sheriff's Office is urging anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers at 662-910-0400, with tips leading to an arrest eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. The agency, headquartered at 5126 Old Mhoon Landing Road in Tunica under Sheriff Calvin “K.C.” Hamp Sr., relies heavily on such anonymous tips to crack unsolved local cases, as broadcast outlet localmemphis.com has reported.
Crime statistics platform DoorProfit estimates Tunica County's annual violent crime risk at roughly 1 in 55, far above the national rate of 1 in 263, underscoring the public safety challenges facing the rural county. U.S. Highway 61 itself serves as the primary north-south transportation corridor through Tunica County, linking rural communities like Prichard to Memphis, according to cultural history records cited by the Mississippi Blues Trail. For now, the shooting at Watson's Store adds another unresolved case to a stretch of road that has already seen its share of gunfire this year, with the suspects' identities, motive, and intended target all still unknown.
