William Brown was 31 when he was shot twelve times and killed on the late afternoon of September 21, 2013, in the Virden Addition neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, near Doctor Moton Street and Smith Robinson Road. The killing followed a heated argument the previous evening between Brown and another man; Brown had reportedly told people he feared for his life from that man and his brothers.

He did not flee and was taken into custody by the Jackson Police Department, but was released later that same day without charges; reports say he was even able to attend a concert that evening. An assistant police chief said witness statements suggested Brown may have started the gunfight, and the department described the investigation as ongoing. Brown’s wife, DeUndra, and others raised concerns that Mississippi’s recently enacted open-carry law could have played a role.

Did anyone in Jackson at the time have additional information about what happened that night or about witnesses who spoke to police?