INDIANOLA — Three 19-year-old males died early Sunday morning in a mass shooting in Indianola.
Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton confirmed to The Enterprise-Tocsin that Areon Butler, a member of the Class of 2024 at Gentry High School, died at the scene just after 12:50 a.m. Sunday.
The other two deceased are Cameron Lee Butts and Marquette Baites, both of Greenville.
The Indianola Police Department also confirmed that as many as 16 others were shot directly or hit by ricocheting bullets during the melee.
Anywhere from two to four victims were flown out Sunday morning by helicopter, while others were treated at South Sunflower County Hospital.
Indianola Police Chief Ronald Sampson said at that time there was no suspect or suspects in the shooting, and the motive had not been determined.
“Several people said that they were standing out there, and they started to hear gunshots,” Sampson said. “Nobody has really given us anything solid.”
Sampson said that prior to the shooting, there was a large crowd of people gathered around a club on Church Street. He said that officers were in the process of setting up barricades in the area to help the flow of traffic and to clear the grounds of the nearby Sunflower County Courthouse when the shooting began.
Sampson said that when the shooting occurred, multiple off-duty officers came to the scene to assist first responders. He said that the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department also assisted, as well as the Indianola Fire Department.
Dozens of live and spent bullets were found.
Crime has been a hot topic in Indianola of late, especially after a night and morning of shootings and property damage occurred over the Memorial Day weekend.
Sampson said that he plans to push city officials to adopt an earlier curfew, something that was floated by an alderman several weeks ago, as well as pulling the licenses of what he describes as problem businesses within the city.
“The owners are letting anybody in their club and it’s a problem,” Sampson said, adding that the city’s ordinances allow for the city to revoke business licenses. “I’m hoping they think about that and pull those licenses.”
