Late on the night of Saturday, September 24, 2022, 24-year-old Taekion Tarshon Reed was found with a gunshot wound in the parking lot of the Country Air apartments on South Lehmberg Road in Columbus, Mississippi. Reed, a Black male and a former standout football player at New Hope High School, was not a resident of the complex. A 11:50 p.m. call brought officers to the scene; paramedics transported him to Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle but he was pronounced dead in the early hours of September 25. His body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy.

Columbus police canvassed the area for witnesses and sought video footage as investigators worked to reconstruct what happened. Interim Police Chief Doran Johnson said investigators had little information in the early stages and authorities appealed to the public for help. No arrest has been announced and the motive remains unknown.

If anyone was in or near the Country Air apartments that night or has dashcam or surveillance footage, please share what you know with investigators.