By Bonnie Culverhouse
In less than one week, Minden has experienced three shootings, two of them last night (Thursday, December 9).
Although the one on Woods St. Sunday afternoon is unrelated, Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper said there is a possibility the two from Thursday – Sims St. and Peach St. – may be tied together.
“As Lt. Brandon Curry was leaving the first call on Sims St., heading to the Peach St. call, he fell behind a white SUV,” Cropper said. “He had his emergency lights on and instead of the white SUV pulling over to yield to an emergency vehicle, the driver ran over a curb and up into a yard.”
Cropper said that move drew Curry’s suspicion.
“Instead of proceeding to the second shots-fired call, the officer pulled in behind the SUV,” said the chief. “As he was approaching the car, three doors opened. He ordered them to remain in the vehicle and shut the doors. Lt. Curry had his K9 unit, and occupants could hear Brahms barking in the background, so they stayed in the car.”
Another officer arrived on scene and the two made contact with the occupants.
Cropper said there were three firearms in the SUV near the front seat passenger.
The three SUV occupants were taken into custody for questioning and during the investigation, one of the subjects reportedly admitted they were involved in the shooting at Peach St. where a house was struck four times and a truck located there was struck five times by gunfire.
Kendrick Taylor (no photo available), 19, of the 800 block of Plum St., was charged with four counts of attempted second degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal carrying of weapons and careless operation of a motor vehicle.
Marlin Conley, 22, of the 700 block of Sims St., was charged with four counts of attempted second degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, possession of Marijuana and drug paraphernalia, illegal carrying of weapons, monetary instrument abuse (counterfeit money) and three traffic bench warrants.
Kartonio Combs, 23, of the 600 block of Woods St., was charged with four counts of attempted second degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, possession of Marijuana and drug paraphernalia and illegal carrying of weapons.
“Officers eventually were able to get to the shots-fired call on Peach St. where 380 and 9MM casings were located,” Cropper said. “Of the three firearms inside the white SUV, one was a 380 and one was a 9MM. The same brand and caliber casings that were located at the Peach St. residence matched the brand and caliber of the firearms in the SUV.”
Cropper said investigators are looking for more information tying the Sims St. and Peach St. shootings. The Sims St. shooting reportedly took place between 7 and 7:15 p.m. and Peach St. afterward. No one was injured in either case, although three persons were reported to have been in the Sims St. residence and four inside Peach St.
“There is also a possibility due to the fact that one of the persons inside the white SUV resides – at times – at the house on Sims St. where the first shots-fired call came from,” he said. “No casings were located at the Sims St. shooting, so investigators feel strongly the shots were fired from a vehicle and the casings left with it. On Peach St., we located around 16 shell casings.”
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