A video game competition at Mississippi Valley State University that turned into an armed robbery and a fight has resulted in the arrests of two people who are not students at the school.
Gabrielle Coulter, 16, of 633 Oak St. in Greenwood was charged with four counts of aggravated assault and armed robbery in relation to the incident on Wednesday.
A second suspect, Tyrone Payne, 18, 113 Nelson Drive in Itta Bena, was charged with robbery, according to the Leflore County Jail docket. Both were in custody at the jail Friday. The arrests were made by MVSU police.
According to a Valley press release, Coulter and Payne are alleged to have attempted to rob “several” MVSU students at gunpoint in Ratcliff Hall after a video game competition reportedly “went awry.” A fight ensued, and Coulter, who was injured, was transported to Greenwood Leflore Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Both men were detained by MVSU police and turned over to Leflore County.
According to the Valley communications office, the relationship between the suspects and the students has not been determined.
The incident is the second on campus in a month involving non-students with firearms on campus. The press release did not indicate whether the suspects entered campus on foot or by motor vehicle.
Valley’s press release affirmed the university’s commitment “to providing a safe and secure campus community.”
In addition to security initiatives currently under way – brighter lighting, panic buttons inside and outside buildings to alert campus police quickly and enhanced identification of visitors in motor vehicles on campus — the announcement said the university “has implemented additional measures to monitor and limit non-student visitors who access our campus.”
Brittany Davis-Green, director of the Office of Communications and Marketing, also acknowledged MVSU police for their quick response and their “commitment to keeping MVSU a safe campus.”
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
