Second Incident of Shots Fired Near Camp Shelby

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Camp Shelby

Update: AP is reporting that a "person of interest" is being questioned about the alleged shooting at Camp Shelby.

Camp Shelby in Mississippi was on heightened alert again Wednesday as authorities searched for a man in a red pickup who allegedly fired shots in the air near the base for the second time, the Army said.

In a statement, the Army said that soldiers at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg in southern Mississippi reported shots being fired into the air at about 8 a.m. Wednesday just outside the base by a man who drove off in a red pickup.

The location near Peret Tower Road and Highway 29 was in the same area where soldiers reported shots being fired at about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

In both incidents, the shooter was described as a "white male in a red pickup truck, make and model unknown," the Army said. No service members were injured in either incident, and the type of weapon used also was not immediately known.

"Camp Shelby is currently participating in a coordinated effort with Perry County authorities to locate the suspect responsible," the Army said. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms have also been notified but have not yet been called into the investigation.

Perry County Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith told WDAM-TV that in the first incident the gunman fired from the truck and did not stop.

The shootings at Camp Shelby followed the killings last month of four Marines and a sailor at a training center in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The FBI has been investigating the Chattanooga shootings as an act of domestic terrorism amid heightened concern about attacks on U.S. military targets by homegrown "lone wolves" inspired by ISIS or other terror groups.

Camp Shelby, a training center that spans more than 134,000 acres, is one of only two National Guard facilities activated as mobilization centers for overseas deployments, according to the Camp's website.

Local news reports on the Camp Shelby incidents speculated that they could be related to the Jade Helm 15 military training exercises in seven states, including Mississippi, which have spawned conspiracy theories about government takeovers.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com

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