VIDEO: Late Night Shooting Leaves One Juvenile Dead And Sends Another To The Hospital

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI)- A teenager is dead and another is in the hospital after a shooting in Aberdeen Monday night.

Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley said the victim is 16-year-old Rondarrian Ward of Tupelo.

It was just after 8 o’clock when Aberdeen Police were called to a home on Short Street.

Inside were two juveniles, each with a gun.

Police Chief Henry Randle said the two confronted each other inside the home, then about four gunshots rang out.

“One had possession of a firearm and the other one was trying to regain his firearm back,” Randle described. “One thing led to another and we had pistol play and guns were shot and left one dead an one injured.”

Randle said Ward was shot multiple times in his abdomen.

He also said victim and the shooter knew each other.

“They were friends and that just goes to show you the mindset of a juvenile,” the police chief expressed. “You’re friends today, then the next day you’re taking shots at each other.”

Investigators have recovered both guns and are processing them.

The police chief said young people getting their hands on guns is starting to become a re-occurring problem for his department.

“They trade guns like candy nowadays,” Randle explained. “They don’t think twice about the penalty for carrying a gun, plus they are under age and it is against the law for a juvenile to even possess one.”

Now, APD is cracking down on juveniles getting their hands on firearms.

If a juvenile is caught with a gun, parents are notified and their home could be searched. It’s all to help prevent shootings like the one on Short Street from happening again.

While the police department does have of a person of interest, it’ll take some time before Monday night’s shooting investigation is complete.

“We are still just putting all the pieces together from what we heard, from what we compiled last night,” said Chief Randle. “We have a great deal of evidence, but we want to make sure because like I said, the shooter is a juvenile and there are necessary precautions that we have to take.”

The person who was sent to the hospital is in stable condition and has non-life threatening injuries.

No arrest has been made.

Gurley said it could be several days before an autopsy is complete.

The Aberdeen Police Department is continuing to investigate this incident.