Natchez officers beef up patrols

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, September 3, 2019

NATCHEZ — Natchez Police and Adams County Sheriff office personnel beefed up patrols throughout the three-day weekend to investigate recent shootings in the Natchez and to keep the peace through the Labor Day weekend, officials said.

“We haven’t had any more shootings,” said Walter Armstrong, Natchez police chief, on Monday afternoon. “We had several guys on overtime and the sheriff’s office did the same. It appears everything has calmed down as it relates to the shootings.”

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said he had between seven and 10 deputies working in the city limits of Natchez at any given time over the three-day Labor Day weekend that came after a previous week and a half that saw three shootings that law enforcement said they believe were related and retaliatory in nature.

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The first shooting occurred Aug. 23 as a man drove along the 100th block of Inez Street when a bullet came through the door of his vehicle and hit him in the leg.

The second shooting occurred on Aug. 27, when someone shot up a house in the 500 block of West Stiers Lane and the third shooting occurred on Aug. 29 at the Holiday Apartments in which three people were shot, including two who were critically wounded and flown to hospitals in Jackson and Rapides Parish.

“Information has started to trickle in,” Patten said of the investigation into the recent shootings. “The investigation is still going on, and we are still following different leads but as of right now we don’t have anything new.”

Armstrong said officers are still reviewing video from surveillance cameras in the Holiday Apartments.

“We have some video we haven’t completely gone through,” Armstrong said.

Both Patten and Armstrong said they are still having difficulty getting any information from witnesses and residents of the Holiday Apartments.

“We need people to come forth,” Armstrong said. “We believe somebody saw or heard something, either before, during or after this incident, and that information could be what we need to make an arrest. Anything along those lines would be a benefit.”

Patten said the sheriff’s office and police force personnel are doing their part to protect the community.

“It is not just up to law enforcement to protect these communities,” Patten said. “The citizens have a duty to protect these communities as well. What I mean by that is the way they do that is by sharing information that they may have in reference to some of these crimes. And that is simply what we are asking them to do is to remain anonymous and to give us the information so we can do our part as well.”

The Sheriff’s Office offers two ways for people to report crimes and potential crime anonymously if the callers would like by calling 911 or using the 411 app available on the Adams County Sheriff’s Office’s website at adamscosheriff.org.

The Natchez Police Department also encourages people to call with information at 601-445-5565 or for anonymous reporting, Crime Stoppers at 601-442-5000.