CLARKSDALE, MS (abc24.com) - Seven homes shot in four days in one small North Mississippi town has residents demanding police action. Clarksdale is the latest Mississippi town dealing with a growing gang problem.
Eola Murry has called Clarksdale home her whole life. Murry says, "Clarksdale is family members, everybody here, we're relatives." Now she's scared her small, once safe town is changing. She feels forced to keep her grandchildren behind closed doors, and even then she's not sure if they're protected. "We've never had this before, we've never had it." She says, "I'm worried, very worried. It hurts to see our people go like this."
Last week Murry woke in the middle of the night to gunshots. Seven homes were shot, four in one night. Murry is the only one in her neighborhood who would speak about the growing problem to abc24.com. "They are afraid," she says, "We have a reason to be afraid."
Interim Clarksdale Police Chief, Lee Jackson, says the shots are likely connected to a growing gang problem in the town. Police added traffic stops, beefed up patrols and have more officers cruising the streets. They expect those steps to slow gang activity.
Murry isn't sure that will stop the gangs from taking over. "I'm worried about it," Murry says, "I have other children, grown children, and I'm afraid for them because it's like an infection. It passes from little children up to the grown ones and makes the elderly people very worried about it. We have these children here and they are highly affected by it."
Clarksdale's police Chief, Greg Hoskins, is retiring at the end of the month. Murry says, "Sometimes it takes a change to make things better."
