With tears forming in her eyes and her hands shaking against the board room table, a Vaughan woman pleaded with county leaders to take action against a promoter who has a history of hosting events that lead to violence and bloodshed in an otherwise quiet rural community.
“You got to shut it down out there,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “My grandbaby and I were almost shot. I am here on behalf of the community as a whole. It is out of control out there. They shot at my house. We want to petition to get it shut down if we can.”
Terry Gann, chief deputy with the Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department, said multiple shootings occurred at an event being held on private land at 281 Thomas Road last Saturday. He said the landowner rents the property to a promoter from Madison County, and he said the promoter’s events have a history of violence.
“We have had a couple of shootings at his events over the past several months,” Gann said. “There have been three incidents out there, and it is the same person hosting these events.”
During a January incident, a man died from a gunshot wound to the head, and horses were also killed during a horse race hosted by the same promoter.
Gann said Saturday’s shooting left one man in the hospital in critical condition. As of press time, no fatalities have been reported.
“The problem at these events is that people begin scattering, and it is difficult for our investigators to determine how many injuries there truly are afterwards,” Gann said.
Gann said the landowner has been working with his investigators, and the landowner even asked deputies to be on the scene for additional security during last weekend’s event.
“The landowner calls me every once and awhile for security, and I was able to provide three deputies last Saturday,” Gann said.
Last Saturday’s event, hosted by People’s Choice Horse and ATV Race Track, included mud races, horse races, a Twerk Contest, a Cruckiest Club Contest and musical performances, including the headliner Big Boogie. Social media footage showed that the event also had its own security, which checked vehicles and bags.
“Security did they thing,” one Facebook user posted, showing a video of numerous firearms, bats and other items spread across a table.
However, multiple shots were fired upon the arrival of one of the event performers.
“About the time that the rap singer pulled up in his vehicle, he was not even out of his car yet when shots were fired,” Gann said. “Our deputies called for backup and went towards the area where the shots were being fired. Then they would hear shots fired in another area. The crowd was fleeing, and deputies were dodging cars. It was chaos. It was more than three deputies could handle.”
The rural location also posed an issue with responding deputies trying to get to the scene as fast as they could.
Gann said no arrests have been made in connection with the shooters, and his investigation continues. But he said there is one common thread.
“The past few events that we have had to handle like this have all been with the same promoter,” Gann said. “He is not from Yazoo County. Madison County has already run him out for the same thing. We have got to see what we can do to stop this from happening in our community. I will be pushing for his events to be shut down. He has a track record of causing trouble.”
The area residents are also joining together to put a stop to the events being hosted in their otherwise quiet neighborhood. The victim who appeared before the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors Monday was visibly shaken from Saturday’s incident.
“We just want it to stop,” she said. “We will do whatever we need to. When they shot in my house with my grandbaby there…it has got to stop.”
County leaders are working with their board attorney to see what ordinance or action they can legally take to resolve the issue.
