Ocean Springs residents are concerned after shooting in a bar parking lot
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) — Bullet casings, markers and broken glass from a car were left strewn on the sidewalk in the parking lot of KahunaOS Bar & Grill on Bienville Boulevard in Ocean Springs following the murder of Chase Lee Galloway, 34.
Ocean Springs Police Captain Ryan Lemaire says Ocean Springs resident William Burnett Oliver, 30, was taken into custody Friday afternoon without incident.
Lemaire says reports of the shooting came in around 6 a.m. Friday morning. When they got to the scene, they found Galloway dead in the parking lot.
Ocean Springs Police Department Captain Ryan Lemaire says reports of the shooting came in around 6 a.m. Friday morning.(WLOX)
During the investigation, police reviewed security footage from the bar and determined the shooting occurred around 5:40 a.m. After receiving tips from witnesses and citizens, the detectives had enough information to issue a warrant for Oliver’s arrest. He was found and arrested on Friday afternoon.
Oliver is committed to the Jackson County Jail and soon transferred to the Adult Detention Center. He was in custody at the time of the incident, having been arrested for assault and allegedly stabbing a man in Biloxi in the early hours of November 10.
William Burnett Oliver, 32(Jackson County Sheriff’s Office)
According to Lemaire, the preliminary investigation suggests the shooting was a domestic event.
WLOX spoke to someone near the scene who said they heard a single shot around 5:20 a.m., went outside and heard another around 5:30 a.m. However, they said they saw nothing.
This is the second fatal shooting at the bar in just over 4 years. In 2018, 43-year-old Deshaude Lakeith Jones murdered lifelong Ocean Springs resident Troy Taylor, who was only 25 at the time. Jones was sentenced in May 2022.
Residents in the neighborhood north of the bar, like Clay Lewis, were worried after being woken by gunfire.
“There’s nothing but a fence between us,” Lewis said. “In the beginning there was no excitement. Suddenly there were two… two, I would say, shots. My first reaction was simple… I didn’t even want to leave the house at first. The sirens sounded just before I was about to call the police.”
Lewis says he’s used to the loud noise that echoes down his street.
“With the bar in question, it’s…there’s a lot of rioting and there’s often violence and things erupting,” he said.
As familiar as he is with excitement, Lewis claims it’s still unusual.
“It’s a beautiful place and a beautiful city,” he added. “It’s not your standard danger zone.”
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information should call the Ocean Springs Police Department at 228–875–2211. To submit an anonymous tip to Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers, call 1–877–787–5898 or download the free P3 Tips app. You can also submit a web tip HERE.
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