An armed man who authorities said attempted to shoot the sheriff during a standoff last week near downtown Eupora remains in jail on related charges.
Chief Investigator Landon Griffin of the Webster County Sheriff’s Department said the incident began about 10 a.m. April 10.
“We had a regular order from Chancery Court to pick him up for a mental evaluation,” he said, referring to Justin Shurden, 28, of 2600 W. Roane Ave.
A court-ordered mental evaluation involves taking a person to a medical doctor and Community Counseling Services for evaluation to determine if one is in need of treatment, Griffin explained.
Deputy Tanner Pritchard, followed by Shurden’s mother in her car, went to the house to pick him up on the court order. Shurden’s mother, who lives in the house with him and her husband, followed Pritchard because she said she was afraid of her son. No one else was in the house at the time.
Griffin and Shurden’s mother gave this account of what followed:
Shurden, after being contacted at the house by Pritchard, said he was not going with the deputy, became agitated and would not open the locked front door. Pritchard then called for assistance.
Chief Deputy Jeff Mann, who arrived next, heard noises inside and thought Shurden and Pritchard were both in the house. However, Pritchard was actually outside at the back door. At one point while barricaded inside, Shurden began throwing firecrackers out the back door, Griffin said.
Shurden came to the front door holding a firearm, pointed it at Mann and said, “I’ll kill all of you,” according to Griffin’s account.
Griffin then arrived and the Eupora Police Department, as requested, blocked West Roane off between Dunn (Main) and Gold streets. He also contacted the superintendent of education’s office to lock down both Eupora schools until the situation was over because of their proximity and as a precaution.
Griffin started talking to Shurden on his PA system and he came to the window. No firearm was in view as Shurden yelled at the officers to go away.
When Sheriff Tim Mitchell arrived, he kicked the door in and went inside, according to Griffin. The deputies then heard a commotion and entered to find the sheriff on top of Shurden attempting to handcuff him.
“We got in and helped him,” said Griffin, who added that a Mississippi Highway Patrol SWAT team had been called in to assist but the call was canceled when Shurden was subdued.
“He got to a gun, pointed it at my chest and pulled the trigger, but it didn’t go off,” Mitchell told News Mississippi. “The gun misfired. I got him down and nobody got hurt.”
A single-barrel 12-gauge shotgun and a .30-30-rifle were found inside the house, said Griffin, who noted that Shurden had not purchased them. Shurden’s mother said the firearms belonged to her husband. Shurden had pulled the trigger on the rifle but it did not fire because the breech was not closed all the way, Griffin said.
Shurden was taken directly to the emergency room at North Mississippi Medical-Center Eupora because he claimed he swallowed some pills. He was transferred that afternoon to NMMC Behavioral Health Center in Tupelo for evaluation.
Shurden was discharged April 11 to the custody of the Sheriff’s Department, which transported him back to the county jail and booked him on charges of disorderly conduct, simple assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. He remained in jail as of Friday afternoon awaiting an initial hearing and bond setting.
Shurden’s mother, Sherry Shurden, said in an interview at her home shortly after the standoff was resolved that her son is bipolar, schizophrenic and psychotic. She also said he would not go to counseling or take prescribed medications.
“He’s told me several times he’d kill me and has tried to hit his dad,” she said, stating that he has hit her. “I wanted to get him some help.”
