(Olive Branch, MS) Two men are behind bars after the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department conducted an undercover drug operation Tuesday.
In the midst of a drug sale, one suspect tried to rob the seller, who was an undercover agent. The suspect fired two shots.
Nearby patrol units were called to assist. They arrested three of the men outside in the 5500 block of Ross Road. A fourth man ran inside the house.
That’s when SWAT, negotiators and a K9 unit were called to help. SWAT and the K9 unit entered the house and arrested the fourth man.
All four men were brought into custody, but deputies say two of them cooperated and were released.
Two others are now in the DeSoto County Jail, one charged with armed robbery and the other charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
People trying to get home Tuesday afternoon found themselves blocked by caution tape.
“When I came home, the officers at the beginning of the street up there wouldn’t let me in and he had it blocked off. Said I couldn’t get in until they finished the investigation. Then I seen SWAT team, everybody come in,” said Pastor Otis Simmons, who lives on the street.
Simmons received a call from his daughter earlier, who was inside their home. She told him she had heard two gunshots.
He made sure that she stayed inside away from the windows.
Simmons said he had never seen activity like this on his street in 18 years.
“Officers finally found out they were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing,” he said.
Neighbors aren’t sure whether the men involved lived there or were just visiting.
Deshawn Hall, who visits friends often on Ross Rd., said that it’s a nice, quiet neighborhood. He said residents are taken aback at such an operation happening on their street.
He called the incident “traumatizing.”
But Pastor Simmons said this doesn’t scare him away. He trusts that residents taking pride in their neighborhood will prevent crime.
“I’ve been here this long, I’m not going anywhere. Matter of fact, I’ll be the one helping clean it up,” he said.