A weekend horse show in the Wall Hill area of Byhalia, Mississippi, turned deadly on the night of April 11, 2026. Between about 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., gunfire erupted on private property and 56-year-old Gary Poplar Sr., a Black man from Benton County, was found fatally shot when deputies and medics arrived.

Investigators say Poplar Sr. had a verbal altercation with another attendee shortly before the shooting. That man was identified as 52-year-old Milton Lashon Burton of Byhalia. Burton surrendered to the Marshall County Jail the following Sunday and was charged with Poplar Sr.’s murder. Bond was set at $500,000 in justice court; Burton posted bond and was released.

The shooting was one of three separate shooting incidents in Marshall County that same weekend. If anyone was at the event or has information about the altercation or the shooting, please share what you know with local authorities.