Shots fired again near Mississippi military site
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - - Shots were fired for a second consecutive day near a military facility in southern Mississippi, but there are no reports of anyone being wounded, National Guard officials said Wednesday.
At about 8 a.m. Wednesday, soldiers training at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center reported shots fired into the air, said Lt. Col. Christian Patterson. It was in the same area where soldiers reported gunshots fired from a pickup truck a day earlier, Patterson said.
The description of the shooter was the same in both instances, Patterson said: a white male in a red pickup truck.
Candace Coleman of CBS affiliate WHLT in Hattiesburg tweeted photos from the scene:
The post is secure, and all personnel are accounted for.
Patterson said Tuesday that guards at all base entrances were armed under a recent order from Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. On Wednesday, Bryant said in a statement that the shootings underscored why he signed that executive order July 20.
"The Soldiers at Camp Shelby and across the state can and should take appropriate steps to defend themselves as necessary," Bryant said.
No one was wounded in the Tuesday shooting, which occurred near a checkpoint at the post. Authorities were quick to point out that shooting took place outside the base perimeter.
"This incident occurred along the eastern edge of Camp Shelby. It did not occur on the base," County Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith said at a news conference.
When asked whether it was an intentional shooting or possibly something like a hunting incident, Smith said it was not known.
Earlier reports that two people were involved proved to be wrong, he said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Highway Patrol is assisting the sheriff's office in their search, CBS affiliate WJTV reported.
The FBI and the ATF have also been notified, Smith said.
The large military base south of Hattiesburg is one of the premier training facilities for National Guard troops from across the country and during the height of the Iraq war was often the last stop for National Guard troops training to go to the Middle East.
Camp Shelby is currently hosting about 4,600 active-duty soldiers, National Guard and reservists from Texas and Mississippi in a summer training exercise.
This summer's training focuses on teaching troops how to operate on the platoon level - generally about 30 soldiers to a group, although that can vary.
CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the Pentagon says the current Camp Shelby training is not part of "Jade Helm 15" - a series of ongoing special forces training missions has drawn suspicion from residents who fear it is part of a planned military takeover.
Camp Shelby officials also were hosting a field hearing Tuesday by the National Commission on the Future of the Army.
The commission is an independent, congressionally mandated panel directed to assess President Barack Obama's recommendations for restructuring the Army's active-duty and reserve component force structures.