Over the weekend, one person died and four were injured during a Sunday shooting near Surf Style in Biloxi that took place during Black Spring Break festivities.
Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich discussed on Thursday’s episode of Coast Vue with Ricky Mathews how the incident, which left many Coast residents fearful for their lives, could have been worse.
“A loss of life — one life — is too much,” the Republican mayor said. “It could have been much, much worse.”
The Republican mayor also revealed in the interview that police in Biloxi and surrounding cities have encountered countless individuals with illegal firearms during recent traffic stops. Gilich said he believes the influx in guns could be a root cause of instances like Sunday.
“Today, it seems like everyone is carrying stuff for whatever reason and it just escalates very quickly. We just wish that wasn’t the mindset. Unfortunately, it is,” Gilich said. “This was the first year we really saw an explosion of that sort of thing.”
Moving forward, Gilich says the city plans to increase police and security presence for largely populated events, including Black Spring Break and Cruisin’ the Coast.
Biloxi police have released photos of a possible suspect in the Sunday shooting and are asking anybody with relevant information to call BPD at 228-392-0641 or Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.
The full interview with Gilich can be watched below.
