Police have arrested a second suspect in relation to the recent shooting at Turtle Creek Mall that left himself and a bystander injured.
Ryan Moore, public information with the Hattiesburg Police Department, said 18-year-old Cassius Taylor has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault and booked into the Forrest County Jail. Taylor was taken into custody upon being released from a local hospital, where he was being treated for injuries sustained in the shooting.
The incident occurred just before 5:30 p.m. on March 4 near the food court in the mall. Officers from HPD, along with deputies from the Lamar County Sheriff’s Department, arrived on the scene to discover Taylor and a 16-year-old female had been firing at each other.
During the initial investigation, officers learned the two shooters are known acquaintances, and had been involved in an isolated altercation when they began shooting.
Taylor was hit by gunfire and transported to the hospital. Another individual inside the mall suffered a leg injury caused by other patrons running after the shooting occurred.
The 16-year-old juvenile was turned into police shortly before 8 p.m. that night and booked into the Forrest County Jail. She was charged as an adult, with four counts of aggravated assault.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
“We would … like to thank the Lamar County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Mississippi Highway Patrol, for their assistance and response during the incident,” Moore said.
Anyone with information related to the shooting is encouraged to call Hattiesburg police at (601) 544-7900 or Metro Crime Stoppers at (601) 582-7867.
