Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones discussed his experience with his daughter when she wanted to go to, you guessed it, The Hideaway Saturday night in a social media post. It is reprinted with his permission.
So, last night, my oldest daughter was out with some of her friends, still celebrating her birthday and attending a Halloween party. During this same time, I was visiting friends pretty much in the same area where they were attending an event.
Of course, I am able to monitor her location and movements, and I was more aggressive with monitoring them last night. Midnight-thirty came, and I knew it was time for her to start making her way home. I also started making my way back toward the house.
During my drive, I drove by the area of Canton Mart Drive and E. Frontage Road. Immediately, I noticed a mass gathering of people and vehicles occupying the area of DeVille Plaza, near the Hideaway Club or whatever the hell it’s called.
I immediately thought about the young lady who lost her life there some months ago, and I said to myself last night, “This doesn’t look good at all.” I was referring to the mass crowd packed into that space. It appeared gridlocked.
I observed officers patrolling the area, and there were also deputies conducting a traffic stop nearby, which means there was a law enforcement presence in the area. However, the mass gathering was still concerning.
I called my daughter and asked what they were doing because of some movement I had seen, but not movement back toward home. She said they were about to ride by the Hideaway and hang out with some other friends for just a little while.
My response was, “Hell no, it’s too many people, and I just passed there.”
She didn’t agree and still wanted to go see other friends there, so I doubled down and told her to start making her way home.
I made the block, parked across the street for about 15 minutes, and just looked at the area. I still didn’t like what I was seeing, although there was law enforcement presence in the area. I had a gut feeling, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t go anywhere near that area and that, if they had to pass it, that was all they did.
I watched her location and did see that she had to travel by there because of the direction she was traveling. However, I waited until she cleared the area before I left. I was in my pickup truck, and she didn’t even know I was watching both her and her location.
I came home, and she pulled up about two minutes behind me. She was a little upset that I had ended their night by not allowing her to go there.
After being home for about five minutes, I started getting alerts that several people had been shot at the location and that JPD was responding. I immediately contacted one of my deputies, and he confirmed that there had been a shooting.
Listen, my intuition and that uncomfortable feeling I had didn’t lead me astray. It was there for a reason, and that reason was to protect my own daughter—not from being a victim, but from being present when I’m sure the mad chaos erupted after shots rang out, injuring six people in total and fatally wounding two.
My heart goes out to the victims and the families affected by last night’s horrific events. I pray, and I have full confidence, that the cowards responsible for this senseless act will be brought to swift justice and held accountable.
On another note, there should be some serious concerns and conversations about the fate of that establishment. This should not become a common or routine occurrence when people are gathered and affiliated there.
More concerning is the fact that the shooting occurred within the walls of the establishment. How were guns even introduced into the location? Who is responsible for allowing them to get inside?
Another senseless act of violence, with families left to mourn and prepare to say goodbye to their loved ones.
This affects us all.
I often say that we always feel a responsibility to not only protect our own families and children, but others as well.
This is heartbreaking.
4 comments:
A nuclear family. Well stated Sheriff.
A father may not always be able to explain why he feels the way he does, but his love, experience and instincts guide him to protect his child at all costs.
Moral of the story is she has a caring father. 80% of the culture does not.
Hey so uh, you’re like the top law enforcement guy in the whole county. Why don’t you just take some action and do some real manly shit and send your deputies to shut these thug gathering joints down. Raid them and arrest people. Take some serious off-the-cuff action and send a message.
How many damn statements are we gonna get instead of some DRASTIC ACTION?? DO SOMETHING!!
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