Authorities detain man after more shots fired at soldiers

Therese Apel | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Camp Shelby was in a heightened state of alert Wednesday after authorities said a man matching the description of Tuesday's shooter fired shots near the military post for a second day.

Soldiers training at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center reported shots fired at around 8 a.m. CT in the vicinity of Peret Tower Road and Mississippi 29 in Perry County. It about 15 miles southeast of the post.

A man was pulled over and detained for questioning at about 12:15 p.m., WDAM-TV, Hattiesburg reported. As police searched the area for the shooter, a maroon truck passed them, a shot was heard and police began a pursuit. The suspect claimed he had no gun and that his truck backfired.

Officials later removed a black parcel from the pickup and loaded it inside a bomb disposal van before the pickup was towed away. The man driving the truck, whose name was not released, is considered a person of interest in both gunfire incidents but has not been charged, said spokesman Warren Strain of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities also questioned two men in connection with Tuesday's shooting, but they were later released without being charged, according to the Perry County Sheriff's Office.

"The soldiers at Camp Shelby and across the state can and should take appropriate steps to defend themselves as necessary," Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement. "This is one of the reasons I recently signed an executive order directing certain National Guard personnel to be armed."

After four Marines and a sailor were killed last month in Chattanooga, Tenn., tensions are high about possible terrorist attacks on U.S. military targets.

The shooter is a white male in a red or maroon pickup truck, make and model unknown, said Lt. Col. Christian Patterson, director of public affairs for the Mississippi National Guard. No injuries were reported in either incident.

"We're making sure soldiers are aware of what's going on so they can take the proper precautionary measures," he said.

The base is in the middle of a training exercise that involves the 155th Armored Brigade combat team and other National Guard and Army Reserve units. More than 4,600 soldiers are involved in the training, Patterson said.

The military base south of Hattiesburg and about 100 miles southeast of Jackson, Miss., is more than 200 square miles in size and serves as a training center for troops year-round.