Daughter of woman shot in Belhaven: 'I just feel totally numb'

Carolyn Temple, known to her friends as Caro, is fighting for her life at the University of Mississippi Medical Center after being shot in her friend's driveway in Belhaven.

The 69-year-old mother and grandmother was conscious after the incident, but as of Thursday night, she was unconscious, said her daughter, Tress Gardner.

Gardner said her mother was retrieving a garbage can from the curb before going into her friend's home for dinner when she was attacked.

"One of mom's pet peeves, among many, is that you can't leave your garbage can out by the street after the garbage truck has come by," Gardner said. "She even moves her neighbors garbage cans. So that's what she was doing. She was going to bring the garbage can in."

Temple's friend, Connor McAllister, had heard gunshots earlier that night and had called them in to JPD, and around 6:30, he heard them again. He went outside and could see Faukner's car, but she was nowhere in sight. He saw two men he didn't know running toward a car and he went back inside to retrieve his gun.

When he came outside, the men had gone, and he found Temple laying at the end of the driveway. Gardner said McAllister first thought Temple had been shot in the head, because there was a big gash in her head. She was able to tell him they had hit her with the gun. The incident happened on Euclid Street.

"All she could remember last night is that they were pulling on her purse and she pulled back," Gardner said. "We've all been like, 'You were fighting with them, weren't you?'"

Gardner said the gunshot went through her mother's right hand into her abdomen, where it nicked her pancreas and liver and lodged between the L1 and L2 lumbar in her spine. On Wednesday night, she couldn't move her legs at first, but had regained some movement.

Since her second surgery, she has remained unconscious on a low dose of medication, so Gardner said she's not sure if Temple's body is just exhausted or if there is some other reason she's still not awake.

A neighbor down the block was able to identify the car carrying the men who attacked Temple, but as of Friday morning, they have not been identified or brought into custody. Meanwhile, Gardner has been trying to deal with her mother's financial affairs because the assailants took her purse, her phone, and her keys.

"I think the shock of it all is slowly starting to wear off, and I just feel totally numb right now. I still can't quite grasp that this has happened.

Temple's 69th birthday was Tuesday.

Virgi Lindsay, president of the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhood is shaken by the violence, but that they're determined to fight back.

"This is horrible, and it's stunning. We just don't have this kind of thing happen in Greater Belhaven," she said. "We're all very sad."

So the people of the Belhaven area are looking for solutions. For starters, the private security patrol in the area is being increased, and Lindsay said residents are "looking at some long-range planning efforts."

"Greater Belhaven is a very strong community, and the way we deal with unfortunate events and incidents is that we rally," she said.

On Jan. 16, the community will have a meeting at Belhaven University, where police will talk to them about safety and security issues. Meanwhile, it's important that community members understand that it's a good idea to be on their guard, Lindsay said.

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com or (601) 961-7236. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter.