Mayor Calls For Special City Council Meeting Following OK Foods Shooting

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Mayor Robert Smith, along with representatives from Columbus police, fire and city inspector’s office met this morning with the owner of the OK Foods convenience store, “Sam” Mutee Nati.

This follows the shooting of two people at that location Tuesday afternoon.

The mayor asked Nati to voluntarily close his store at 5:00 pm everyday, citing public safety concerns.

Nati refused.

Right now, OK Foods on 7th Avenue is open until 10pm weeknights, and 11pm on Friday and Saturday.

In response, the mayor has called a special city council meeting for Thursday at 9am to address this situation.

One of the options is to close the store based on public safety and possible public nuisance concerns.

The mayor and city staff met with Nati one month ago to address security issues at his property. In the past 18 months, Columbus police have responded to 122 calls at the location.

Mayor Robert Smith says he has “had enough.”

The OK Foods convenience store is a locally-owned small market and is not connected to the Fort Smith, Arkansas-based poultry products manufacturing company.