Reserve deputy reportedly stopped Ovett man who disturbed service
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An Ovett man died after being shot by a reserve deputy outside The Rock Church on Sunday night.
James Corey Donald, 46, was “acting funny” and appeared to be under the influence of something when he caused a disturbance inside the church on Highway 15 South, witnesses said. Donald was reportedly asked to leave and was escorted outside by Ryan Walters, who is a member of the church security team and a reserve deputy with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department.
Once outside, Donald began fighting with Walters and attempted to gain control of Walters’ gun during the scuffle, several sources with knowledge of the incident reported. Once Walters regained control of the weapon, he fired the shot that wound up being fatal.
“A church security member got into a tussle with a guy who appeared to be disoriented and under the influence of something,” Sheriff Joe Berlin said. “There was a shot fired after the tussle, the suspect was taken to the hospital and the church security member is speaking with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. We called in MBI due to the circumstances with the church security member.”
A couple of church members performed first aid on Donald until medical first-responders from Powers arrived to take over after the scene was secured by the JCSD. EMServ Ambulance Service then arrived and transported Donald to South Central Regional Medical Center to be treated. Glade volunteers also responded.
MBI handles most officer-involved shootings, but that agency is typically tight-lipped about its cases.
“The case is under investigation,” MBI Investigator Scott Goddard said, and agency spokeswoman Bailey Martin added that there would be no further comment since it was “an open and ongoing investigation.”
Members of the church involved with the incident were shaken up and refused to comment about it. The shooting occurred less than a week after a shooting at a Christian School in Nashville that left three 9-year-old students and three staffers dead along with a 28-year-old transgender, gun-wielding ex-student who was shot and killed by police.
The church does have surveillance video that was reportedly turned over to MBI.
