Oxford police chief: 18-month-old, adult still hospitalized after shooting at celebration of life

Police in Oxford are investigating a shooting that injured multiple people including two children. According to police the shooting happened Saturday around 9:30 p.m. in the Piedmont Avenue area.

When officers arrived they found six victims with gunshot wounds. The ages of the victims ranged from an 18-month-old to a 64-year-old, police said.

All were transported to the hospital in Oxford and four of the six were then taken via life flight to other hospitals.

Oxford Police Chief Pat Ford told ABC11 on Monday that the 18 month old and an adult are only ones still hospitalized.

"When children become victims, especially as small as these children are, I hope the community says enough is enough," Ford said.

Ford said it happened during a celebration of life for someone that died in a car accident last week. Police estimate 100-200 people had gathered when someone opened fire. They don't believe it was a drive by.

Commissioner Bryan Cohn lives in the vicinity of the shooting. He tells ABC11 that he heard the gunshots Saturday night and saw people trying to get out the area.

He said was on the scene of the shooting after it happened.

"It was like a warzone. The screaming, the just the horror that was taking place is not something you'd expect to see in a small town," said Cohn.

The commissioner said this type of gun violence isn't unique to Oxford and unfortunately it's something that's becoming all too common in this country.

"I don't think there's words that can possibly describe the level of trauma that this brings to a community. To see those things, happen on TV is one thing but to be in the moment and see it unfolding is something that I could never even begin to describe."

Brandon Moss was out with friends Saturday when he heard the gunfire. "No minimum of 15 shots," said Moss.

"My father called me and he's right down the road at Walgreens. And he says, Did you hear that? And I say, Yeah, I'm actually outside right now. I was like, was that fireworks? He was like, No, that was way too deep to be fireworks," Moss described.

The long-time resident of Oxford said this shooting has the town shaken. "We're on edge and we're gonna stay that way, you know, until you know, stuff is correct. And we hope that they get to the bottom of especially for the children," continued Moss.

No additional information has been released about the conditions of the victims.

Anyone with information that could help investigators should call Detective Kevin Dickerson at 919-693-3161, or call Crime Stoppers at 919-693-3100.