One man is behind bars and other arrests will likely follow after shots were fired at an Indianola police officer last Friday morning.
Jashawn Colton, 22, of 415 Gholston St. in Inverness is behind bars at the Sunflower County jail on a $250,000 bond. He is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and fleeing a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle. Colton and two others allegedly fired shots in the direction of an Indianola police officer and then led her on a high-speed chase that ended in Inverness.
Indianola Police Chief Edrick Hall said warrants for aggravated assault on a police officer have also been issued for Robert Lanez Wilburn, 25, of 1000 First Street in Inverness and Xavier Dean, who were in the vehicle with Colton at the time of the shooting. Hall said the U.S. Marshals have been called in to assist in finding the men.
Colton was already out on a felony bond for first-degree murder based on his alleged involvement in a shooting that took place on December 13, 2017, in the 400 block of Forrest Street that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Dontavious Boatman.
According to information from Hall, officer Brionna Brown was exiting the rear of the Indianola police department sometime after 3 a.m., but before 4 a.m., when she heard gunshots and followed the sound of the gunfire.
When she arrived in the Beale and Handy Streets area, she saw the Tahoe and realized it fit the description of the vehicle mentioned in an earlier reported incident involving a weapon, where a man said three men pulled a gun on him and threatened him.
The officer allegedly saw someone fire shots out of the window of the vehicle and she turned on her blue lights and siren and attempted to flag them down, however, they fired shots in her direction and sped off down B.B. King Road south toward U.S. 49 with the officer in pursuit.
Hall said the Sheriff’s Department was notified, and the officer followed the vehicle to Inverness where it pulled into the driveway of a house in the 400 block of Gholston Street, a home that was later identified as Colton’s mother’s home. The three men got out of the vehicle and ran away.
Being outnumbered in a community that she was not familiar with, Hall said his officer did the smart thing and secured the vehicle until other law enforcement officers could arrive. He credits the GPS system in the patrol car for allowing him to pinpoint the officer’s location given that she could not identify her surroundings, because she was unfamiliar with the Inverness layout.
A K-9 patrol was disbursed to help locate the men, but they were unsuccessful. However, Colton turned himself in to law enforcement later that day. Officials found rounds from a .223 automatic weapon in the Tahoe, but no weapon. The vehicle is registered to a woman identified as Colton’s girlfriend.
Hall said since the incident originated in Indianola, his officer had the authority to pursue the suspects into another jurisdiction.
Sunflower County Sheriff’s deputies, Hall and fellow Indianola officers later joined her on scene.
Colton’s preliminary hearing has been set for 3 p.m. on Sept. 25.
