A man was found dead in a vehicle across from a school in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- A man was found dead in a vehicle across from a school in Columbus. 23-year-old Shad Reese, of Macon, was the young man that was shot and killed in his car around 3:00 a.m. on November 1, 2021.

When officers arrived they found the car’s window had been shot out; that marked the seventh homicide in Columbus in 2021.

District 41 state representative Kabir Karriem said some action has been taken to prevent crime, but there needs to be more.

“Clean up those high crime areas that are so prevalent I commend the mayor and the city council for recently putting up the sky cop cameras in communities but more is needed,” said Karriem

Protecting the youth and elderly is important to Karriem, and he believes a partnership between the city and citizens needs to continue its work.

“It seems like right now that it’s at a standstill but it’s time to get those folks who were putting the crime prevention task force together and see where we are, let’s update it, and let’s do something about it,” said Karriem.

Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said his department continues its push for engaging and protecting the community.

“Some crimes we’ll be able to prevent and then some of the other ones where they are domestic type situations so again we can’t prevent those so we can increase our patrol and continue to use tools that we’ve been using to make our city better and again developing that trust and relationship with the citizens,” said Shelton.

Shelton encouraged anyone that may know something to not let fear get in the way of reporting it.

“We do encourage people to find nontraditional ways. I know people may be leery about making that phone call, but again use the P3 app it’s completely anonymous. We need the information,” said Shelton.

If anyone has any information or video that could help lead to an arrest. They’re encouraged to call the police department or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers.