Pair of shootings in county

A suspect has been arrested in an early Sunday morning shooting on French Road, according to sheriff Kenny Dickerson.

Barry Marketon Tunstall, 36, whose address of record is in the 50 block of St. Paul Road, Victoria, was apprehended by authorities around 10 a.m. Monday after several warrants for his arrest on attempted murder charges were issued, the sheriff said.

Tunstall was brought in by agents with the U.S. Marshals Task Force in Oxford.

There was a block party in the 1300 block of French Road in the wee hours of Sunday morning when officers were dispatched after receiving a call from one of those shot in the fracas, Dickerson said.

The caller, a victim of the shooting, drove himself to his sister’s house in the 700 block of Skating Rink Road and called to report multiple gunshots at a party, which is alleged to have involved drinking and gambling, according to the sheriff’s department.

Dickerson said prior to the call from the shooting victim, who sustained a bullet wound to the right shoulder, patrols had been sent to the area on French Road after neighbors complained vehicles were blocking the road at a residence at the location.

After investigators talked with witnesses present during the incident, Dickerson said Tunstall was identified as the alleged shooter.

Several shooting victims were transported to Methodist Olive Branch Hospital and one or more were later transported to the Regional One Health Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn.

After interviewing nume­rous people at the block party, Dickerson said investigators have good reason to believe the shooting occurred during a gambling (dice) game.

“A lot of times people are drinking and using drugs and gambling together and the end result is violence,” he said.

Tunstall made an initial appearance in justice court Tuesday to establish bond. Dickerson said the state will pursue no bond since Tunstall is on probation with the Mississippi Department of Corrections on a prior conviction for sale of cocaine.

Dickerson thanked agents with the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force in Oxford for assisting in the location and arrest of Tunstall.

Arrest made in shooting at travel center

An argument over a serving of peach cobbler at Joe Joe’s Travel Center in Red Banks ended in a shooting May 9 at around 11:30 a.m., Dickerson said.

Deputy Anthony Jones was called to the scene and found spent gun casings in the parking lot where the shooting took place.

Dickerson said  there appeared to be a verbal altercation between two customers inside the truck stop relating to a complaint about a bowl of peach cobbler. The two men took their argument outdoors, and the suspect is alleged to have shot the victim in the parking lot.

Stanley Woodson, 58, of the 400 block of Millwright Road in Holly Springs, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and with one count of felon in possession of a firearm, the sheriff said. He was released from jail on a $50,000 bond.

The victim received medical attention for his injuries and was later discharged, Dickerson said.

He said video taken in the parking lot is expected to be helpful in determining the facts in the case. A preliminary hearing for Woodson has been set for May 21.