Marines conducting a training exercise at Mississippi's Camp Shelby reported two incidents of shots being fired nearby this week, and police have arrested a 61-year-old man who said it was his truck backfiring.
The Mississippi military facility was already on heightened security in response to the Chattanooga, Tennessee, shootings in mid-July, and the sound of what appeared to be gunshots put the 4,600 soldiers who were
training on edge, WATP reported.
Alfred Baria was arrested Wednesday in connection with both incidents, one on Tuesday night and another Wednesday morning. He drove through a patrol checkpoint soon after the shots were reported on Wednesday, and authorities told WATP he admitted to driving his red pickup truck in the area where both incidents occurred.
Baria has been charged with three counts of disturbing the peace and two counts of a felon in possession of a firearm,
according to Perry County (Mississippi) Sheriff’s Office reports.
Authorities told WATP that they are unsure whether Baria actually fired shots or caused his Isuzu pickup truck to backfire.
Baria’s son, Alfred Baria Jr., told The Associated Press that his father’s old truck frequently backfires and that the guns later found at Baria’s home were actually owned by Baria Jr. He said he didn’t realize his father wasn’t supposed to be around guns.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was called in to examine a suspicious package found in the back of Baria’s truck, but determined that it was not explosives, according to the AP.
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