TIPPAH CO., Miss. — Violence finds a Tippah County man and his family after he was shot in the head following an argument over alleged stolen property.
It happened in the small town of Blue Mountain, just south of Ripley.
Pastor Terry Smith of Ripley, Mississippi, is the uncle of Paris Smith, who was shot in head March 11 outside of a house on County Road 825.
“There was an assault on his life, and I really believe that they were trying to kill him,” Smith said.
The shooting followed an argument Smith reportedly had with a neighbor he accused of stealing some of his property.
“He went to the man’s house and confronted him and said, ‘My personal items have been stolen and I want them back,’” Smith said.
Tippah County Sheriff Karl Gaillard confirms the argument involved alleged stolen property and escalated into violence, and that Smith was shot in the head, but the sheriff declined to go into details.
“This is an ongoing investigation involving the Tippah County Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Tippah County District Attorney,” Gaillard said.
The man who says he shot Paris Smith tells us he did so after Smith came onto his property armed and threatened him and his son.
The man, who wouldn’t go on camera, says after the confrontation moved back to Smith’s father’s house, Smith assaulted his wife, and Smith and his father fired shots at the man’s family. Bullets hit a tire and the side of a pickup truck.
Pastor Smith says his nephew was defending himself.
“A young lady attacked him. He put up his hands to like, fend her off, and some shots were fired, and my nephew was struck in the head,” Smith said.
But Paris Smith’s sister says the shooting was racially motivated, and the woman had been yelling racial slurs.
“I don’t like using the N word, but saying, ‘*****, open up the door. Where’s your ***** son.’ All these things lead us to believe that, yes, this was a hate crime and highly racially motivated,” said Melody Berry.
When asked if his office considers this a racially motivated crime, the sheriff said everything is on the table.
“If it leads to that, we’ll take appropriate action,” he said.
Smith’s relatives are also concerned the sheriff is asking for more detailed witness statements even though Paris Smith’s father filed a statement the night of the shooting.
Paris Smith is recovering in the hospital. Clergy, Smith’s family and some concerned citizens are holding a rally Saturday morning at the Tippah County courthouse in Ripley. The theme is “Justice For The Future.”
