Man fighting for his life after being shot in the head during Yazoo Co. horse race

YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) - The Yazoo County Sheriff’s Office is pleading with the public for help to find out who killed several horses and injured two others in a weekend shooting. One of the victims is now fighting for his life.

It happened Saturday afternoon at a racetrack on Thomas Road in the Vaughn community of Yazoo County.

Yazoo County Sheriff, Jacob Sheriff, says violence broke out as people gathered for a horse race. Some had thousands of dollars on the line for the race.

“My understanding, what led to the shooting is they had horse racing and they were betting on the horses,” he explained. “At that particular time, one was accused of illegal horse racing, crossing in front of another horse and the other wanted their money back after the race and that led to dispute.”

That argument allegedly then led to a fight, and deputies say that’s when things turned violent.

“Two people were shot, supposedly. We have identified one victim as Eric Bolden, Jr. He was taken to Merit Health in Madison, Mississippi by private of vehicle and then airlifted to UMMC with a gunshot wound to the head,” Chief Investigator Noble Brooks, Jr. said.

In the midst of the chaos, four horses were also shot and killed.

“It’s just cruel for anyone to just shoot horses down the way they did...,” said the sheriff.

Deputies say no arrests have been made, but they do have a person of interest and hope to solve this case with help from the community.

“It is very disappointing to hear anyone taking it to that level of wanting to shoot horses, or shoot anybody or any individual, even the young man who got shot in the head. That was a senseless crime and should have never happened,” said the sheriff.

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