A Greenville man was arrested Thursday in connection with an August domestic violence incident that police say ended with him firing multiple rounds into his girlfriend's car. Rynaren Ferguson was taken into custody without incident more than a month after the altercation, which unfolded late at night on South Colorado Street and left a 2020 Honda Accord damaged.
According to Darkhorse Press, the Greenville Police Department responded to the 500 block of South Colorado Street at 11:28 p.m. on August 22 after receiving a shots-fired alert alongside a separate call for service. Officers found a woman who said she had gotten into an altercation with her boyfriend that began inside the residence and turned physical, with Ferguson allegedly striking her during the confrontation.
Police say Ferguson then left the home, threw objects at the woman's Honda Accord, damaged the vehicle, and produced a firearm before firing multiple rounds into the car. The gunfire struck the rear windshield, rear quarter panel and radiator of the vehicle, per the same report. Ferguson had already left the scene by the time officers arrived.
Shell Casings and a Live Round Left Behind
Investigating officers recovered four spent 9mm shell casings and one live 9mm cartridge at the scene, the outlet reported. The case was subsequently handed over to the department's Criminal Investigation Division for further investigation, and Ferguson was arrested Thursday without incident. He is being held at the Washington County Regional Correctional Facility while he awaits an initial court appearance, according to the same account.
Police have not listed the specific charges Ferguson is facing, though Mississippi law lays out steep potential exposure. Under Mississippi Code § 97-25-47, willfully shooting a firearm into or at a motor vehicle is a felony punishable by one to five years in state prison, a fine between $100 and $250, or both. Separately, aggravated domestic violence involving a deadly weapon under Mississippi Code § 97-3-7 can carry a sentence of two to 20 years, according to FindLaw, while simple domestic violence involving a dating partner is treated as a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
A Record of Past Legal Trouble
Court records show this is not Ferguson's first brush with law enforcement. In May 2022, he was arrested by the Pickens County Sheriff's Office in Alabama on charges of possession or use of drug paraphernalia, providing false identification to law enforcement, and identity theft, according to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office.
More recently, in February 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi's Greenville Division dismissed without prejudice a federal petition Ferguson had filed against the Mississippi Department of Corrections, docketed as Case No. 4:24-cv-00054-SA-DAS, due to failure to prosecute, per Justia Law.
Firearms and Domestic Violence Nationally
A research article found that an intimate-partner-violence victim is five times more likely to be killed when an abusive partner has access to a firearm. National data also shows that one in eight perpetrators of intimate-partner violence admitted using a gun to threaten a partner, underscoring why disputes like the one on South Colorado Street draw close police attention even when the outcome falls short of a fatality.
Mississippi law also treats repeat domestic abuse harshly. A third simple-domestic-violence charge, following two prior convictions within seven years, can be a felony punishable by up to ten years in state prison, according to Justia Law. Prior simple and aggravated domestic-violence convictions can count as priors in enhanced-penalty calculations.
Greenville Police Department Leadership
Greenville Police Chief Marcus R. Turner Sr. oversees the department.
Hoodline has previously reported on Greenville's uneven gun violence trends, including a man wounded in an alleged drive-by and a separate shooting near Inez and Eureka streets.
It remains unclear why more than a month passed between the August 22 incident and Ferguson's arrest, and police have not yet detailed the specific formal charges he will face. Ferguson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, and he is awaiting an initial court appearance.
