West Jackson man shot while sitting on his own front porch

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Gun violence continues to impact innocent lives around the capital city, and one man in West Jackson says he has become a victim of the violence, despite being on his own property.

“Are things that bad that you sit on your porch minding your own business, and you get shot by people you don’t know?” Councilman Kenneth Stokes said.

Jack Johnson, 69, says it was just like any other day at his home in West Jackson last month when it quickly turned into one of the scariest days of his life.

“I’m sitting on my porch, and I decided to get up. I look at my mailbox, and all of a sudden, it hit my shoulder, and it hit my back,” Johnson explained.

It’s something Johnson says he’s never dealt with before — even after 60 years of living in the house.

“Nothing surprises me today. Things have just gotten really bad out here,” Johnson said.

Councilman Stokes says the neighborhood in Ward 3 hasn’t been an issue before.

“It was a quiet neighborhood, quiet street. The gentleman who lived in that second house passed. New people got the home. When they got the home, they put people in who love to shoot guns,” Stokes said.

At least four bullets flew toward his home that day, and one remains in his back two weeks after the shooting.

“The bullet is still in me. They couldn’t take it out,” Johnson said.

Now, with medical bills piling up, Councilman Kenneth Stokes says he believes the person arrested for the shooting and the property owner need to pay for Johnson’s injuries.

“We believe that property owner needs to pay civilly. He needs to pay somebody. He needs to pay this man’s hospital bill. He needs to paint the damage to this man’s home. He needs to pay damage to this man. If he does not care about the citizens in this city to check to see who he’s renting to, then put them next to his house,” Stokes said.

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