Two teenagers killed, four injured in Mississippi house party shooting, suspect in custody

A 19-year-old is being held without bond after allegedly shooting six people, killing two of them, at a house party on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. The 12:34 a.m. Sunday shooting at a post-prom house party took the lives of two teens, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, police in Bay St. Louis, Miss., said in a statement.

The local Sun-Herald newspaper identified them as De’Arreis “DD” Smith, 18, and Haeleigh Stamper, 16, both students at Hancock High School. Witnesses and victims identified Cameron Everest Brand of Pass Christian, Miss., as the sole shooter, police said.

He was initially charged with six counts of aggravated assault, with two counts of homicide added later after the two victims died in a New Orleans hospital, Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said. Bail was initially set at $3 million but eliminated altogether after the deaths. Police had not officially released victims’ names Sunday evening.

The shooting at a home on a scantly populated rural road less than a mile from Bay High School, where the dance had been held. Trails of blood splotched the pavement outside the home, and bullet holes riddled cars out front.

The two dead teens were students at Hancock High School in nearby Kiln, according to district officials there. Two more students from that school were among the wounded, and two others attended Bay High. The latter two were expected to recover, said Sandra Reed, superintendent of the Bay St. Louis-Waveland school district.

Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said in a news release that police identified Brand as the sole shooter at a house party, through witness and victim statements. The Hancock County district said it would provide counseling, and Bay High Principal Amy Necaise said faculty and staff would be available to counsel students Sunday.

“Our hearts are broken as we mourn the tragic loss of two Hancock High School students who were victims of the shooting in Bay St. Louis last night,” the Hancock County school district said in a statement. “Let us come together as a community to show our support and love during this difficult time.”

With News Wire Services