By Bonnie Culverhouse
The name of the first person arrested in Sunday night’s shooting at Ewell Park in Minden is still unknown, but his affiliation with a local gang is out there for all to see.
Minden Mayor Nick Cox, Police Chief Jared McIver and Lt. Tokia Whiting-Harrison held a news conference Tuesday afternoon where they showed evidence gathered with the arrest.
“The person we arrested was wearing this shirt,” McIver said, as he held up a tee shirt sporting TTS TRAINED TO STEP with artwork of a gun.
“The playground was directly behind where the shooting was taking place,” McIver said. “One bunch of guys was shooting one way, and another shooting across the playground toward them. How there weren’t children killed … You had kids at the playground, kids at the ballfields, people holding babies.”
Four persons were injured by gunfire.
McIver said 64 rounds of ammunition were counted from the shooting, and multiple types of guns were reportedly fired.
“Some were semi-automatic weapons, handguns and long rifles,” said the chief.
“That’s the ones we found,” he said of the rounds. “It’s gang-related. There’s no doubt. We want these people to know, we know who they are and we are coming for them. We are not putting up with this.”
Cox said he is placing a moratorium on permitted private events held on city property where the organizers cannot prove “adequate security.”
“There is nothing more important than our citizens’ safety,” he said.
Cox said the council will reevaluate policies and procedures for permitting these events, and all requests must be signed off by the mayor and chief before they will be allowed to take place.
Sunday’s event was sanctioned for 50 persons, however, McIver said there were closer to 200.
One of the four gunshot victims is still listed in critical condition.
For the past year, Minden has been trying to shut down TTS. At least 24 of 26 warrants ended in arrests.
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