December shooting could be related to Patton Street murder
December shooting could be related to Patton Street murder
By Logan Watson
The victim of a shooting at Rock n’ Shirl’s just before Christmas told investigators that the incident could be related to the murder of Rontavious McKinley.
On December 22, officers of the Milan Police Department were dispatched to Rock n’ Shirl’s after receiving a call about a fight, but when the officers arrived, there were mentions of shots being fired. Officer Brian Hutson stated that when he and Officer Hakim Hart arrived at the scene, people were rushing out of the establishment. When questioned about the incident, the patrons leaving the scene stated that had not heard any gunshots and did not know what was going on.
While on the scene, officers Hutson and Hart received a call from Dispatch that a victim with gunshot wounds had entered the Emergency Room at Milan General Hospital. The victim, Freddy Pearson, told the officers he had been shot in a confrontation with a man from Humboldt. Pearson told the officers that when he was leaving, he noticed that the man had a handgun. Pearson did not elaborate as to what caused the confrontation, but told officers that he was shot once in the left wrist after slamming the Humboldt man to the ground. Pearson told officers that he continued to advance on the man when he was shot a second time, this time in the upper leg. Both gunshot wounds entered and exited Pearson’s body.
After receiving treatment from the nurses at MGH, Pearson told MPD Investigator Williams that his shooting was related in some way to the murder of Rontavious McKinley which took place on Patton Street on October 11. It is not clear at this time whether or not Freddy Pearson and Uel Pearson, one of the suspects accused of shooting McKinley, are related.
“What we’ve been hearing on the street is that this incident could possibly be retaliation for past actions between a couple of groups. We are still investigating the situation and following leads, but its not so easy when the witnesses don’t want to cooperate.”
