On the evening of May 5, 2025, a Cinco de Mayo gathering at Azteca’s Restaurant & Cantina on Highway 49 in Gulfport, Mississippi, ended in gunfire that left 34-year-old Christopher Skinner dead. The restaurant was crowded, an argument inside spilled into the parking lot, and at about 9:36 p.m. officers on scene heard shots. Skinner was found with multiple gunshot wounds, taken to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, and later died.

Skinner, a Gulfport resident from the Soria City community and a licensed barber remembered for his smile and laughter, was reportedly involved in an altercation with 25-year-old Jordan Tyrick Johnson. Police say Johnson pulled a gun and shot Skinner multiple times before fleeing; investigators recovered three .45-caliber shell casings in the parking lot and a detective testified that two additional rounds were fired after Skinner had fallen. Johnson was later brought to the Gulfport Police Department by his father after a warrant for first-degree murder was issued, and bond was reduced from $1 million to $500,000. Johnson’s attorney says he acted in self-defense, claiming Skinner punched him first.

What did anyone who was at Azteca’s that night see or hear in the moments before the shooting?