An altercation between brothers Friday morning reportedly led to one brother setting a house of fire and then killing himself.

Officials with the Vicksburg Police Department during a press conference Friday morning said 58-year-old Jeffery Watts died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home on 2nd North Street.

Early Friday, at around 1:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of an altercation between brothers, where Ed Watts, 61, said his brother, Jeffery, who both reportedly live in the house, had shot him in the foot.

Vicksburg Police Chief Milton Moore said when officers attempted to enter the home at 1200 2nd North St. they found the door locked. When officers looked inside windows, they saw flames and called the fire department.

When officers attempted to enter the home, three shots were reportedly fired, forcing officers to leave the home and take up defensive positions.

According to Vicksburg Fire Chief Craig Danczyk, fire units were staged away from the scene due to safety concerns. Firefighters moved to the scene when the house was fully involved.

“Once they were on scene, they immediately began attempting to extinguish the fire,” Danczyk said.

Danczyk said despite the department’s efforts, the home was a total loss. He also said Leslie Sanders, one of the department’s fire investigators was called to the scene, along with State Fire Marshal Investigator Kayla Riggs.

Once the fire had been extinguished, those fire investigators discovered Jerry Watts’ body. It was determined he had died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

As for the home, Danczyk said there were “quite a bit of contents” in the home and that pets in the home did survive. He also said responding units were able to keep the neighboring home from receiving any damage.

“Fortunately, no police officers or fire personnel were injured,” he said.

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