Facebook post sparks fight that leads to fatal shooting

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Tupelo police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old girl dead and another man injured.

The series of events leading up to the fatal shooting began with a Facebook post that led to a fight, and then gunshots in the middle of the street.

Gerald Topps admitted he was involved in a brief fight Tuesday evening on Meadow Drive in the Haven Acres neighborhood.

He said it all started with a Facebook post.

“It was a whole bunch of bs on Facebook, people arguing back and forth, we come to my grandmas house, we on FB Live, he came out here to fight me, we got to fighting, it was about 20 seconds, a quick little fight, that’s all it was, after the fight, that’s when gunshots went off,” said Topps.

Topps, who is also known as “GiGi”, said he had already gone back inside his grandmother’s house after the scuffle and did not see the shooting.

Social media posts taken at the time of the shooting showed a large crowd on Meadow Drive, as the shooting started. When it was over, 17-year-old Tiara Dancer lay in the street, fatally wounded.

Another man was shot but was expected to recover.

“I just hate it happened man, Tupelo needs to put down the guns, all this violence. man,” said Brice Ford, who is Dancer’s cousin.

Ford said Dancer never thought a street fight would end with gunfire.

“If you got something going on, try and talk it out first, don’t try to just fight, try and avoid the situation because the situation can get out of hand and control and you can’t control everything,” Ford said.

As part of their investigation, police reviewed social media posts, including Facebook Lives made before and during the shooting.

It was estimated as many as 40 to 50 people were at the scene when violence erupted.

Dancer graduated in December from Tupelo High School.