Fighting Children Leads To Shooting; One Arrested

April 19, 2011

One person has been arrested in connection with a shooting Monday in Atmore.

Atmore Police responded to a disturbance call at the Bragg Street Apartments on Monday where they found that Anthony McCants, 27, had sustained a single gunshot wound to the back.

Frances Tyrone Blount, 32, was charged with first degree assault in connection with the shooting. Witnesses told Atmore Police that a Blount pulled a handgun and shot McCants after an altercation in at the apartment complex.

Witnesses at the scene told Atmore Police officers that Monday’s disturbance started because of an incident over the weekend involving children fighting at the apartment complex. The mothers of the two children got into a physical altercation while walking with their children to the bus stop on Monday. Witnesses stated after that altercation a large crowd armed with baseball bats gathered in one of the parking lots and began fighting just prior to the shooting.

McCants was transported to Atmore Community Hospital by family members. His condition was not available.

Comments

26 Responses to “Fighting Children Leads To Shooting; One Arrested”

  1. lawful citzen on April 20th, 2011 10:23 pm

    I read a respond, that we should look at the “side of the street they come from” or would you have rather said side of town? Either way, where you live have nothing to do with it. I have found that a lot of things that go on, in other parts of the city, our city, will go unreported, or is sweep under the rugs. So there are things that happen ALL over town, and could happen on any street or any side of town.

    Second, I personally know the wife of the young man that was shot, (as a matter of fact I know all parties involved). They are both WORKING parents of wonderful children, and they are not LAZY people.
    I have the opportunity, sometimes to talk to the Mrs. at her place of employment and every conversation leads to her family and her children, how she chastise them and how proud she is of their accomplishments in school. And when I had the opportunity to meet the children, I was not at all surprised at the respect that they showed.

    I will not pass judgment on this mother, father or the other parents involved, because I don’t have the details, but the person that had the gun that did not have children involved should not have been there.

    I am sure that these parents was standing up for what they thought was right or what they thought was right for their children. It should not have turned violent. Just as other parents all over Atmore, and America stand up for their Children, right or wrong.

    The sad thing is that these are children involved, and the adults will now probably be enemies for life, but the Children will be or may already be friends again. They may even at some point before adulthood have to sneak and be friends, (because of what silly, ignorance of adults) but they will be friends, And I hope so and they can all grow up and forget these ugly incidents in their lives.

    So, I am sure there had to be a situation, but violence should have been avoided.

    My prayer is with both families and the children involved.

  2. Steve on April 20th, 2011 8:13 pm

    Somebody said ‘Cat Fight!’ -and it was misunderstood as ‘Bat Fight!’ – and then
    the fight started…

    I agree with DHG …Can’t we all just get along? :)

  3. Wharf Rat on April 20th, 2011 6:40 pm

    “Sierra”, you live in lala land. I belong to the NRA. I don’t hunt…can’t stand killing. I’ve seen enough of it in my military and LEO careers. I still pause to admire butterflys, sunsets, and rainbows. But if someone wants to interfere with my more genteel pursuits, I do have a concealed weapons permit, and many years ago I learned to exercise my rights. I believe people like you and your ilk, are the problem, enabling bad people to prey on the innocent.

  4. art on April 20th, 2011 12:59 pm

    the new social construct is not that new. it has been around for quite a while and some believe it will be with us forever. poverty. not that we don’t see violence at every level in society, but where there is poverty there never seems to be an over abundance of peace and security. maybe atmore is due for a “clean sweep” like they are doing down in pensacola and cottage hill and around the paper mill. i think the way the community gets involved might encourage the folks that live here to work in harmony. ever one wants their kids to be able to excel and thrive in their surroundings. this doesn’t seem like such a great place for the kiddos to live if a small fraction of the parents is making their lives miserable.

  5. Name (required) on April 20th, 2011 12:05 pm

    Ok… so those mean old guns are behind this… good to know.

    I am sure the baseball bats they were fighting with earlier had something to do with it… let’s ban them too.

    Oh, and the original fight started on the way to the school bus! Maybe the bus had something to do with this…

    Cause it could not possibly be the fault of the PEOPLE involved who made the decision to act like animals… no, could not be the people because people are never to blame…

    Name (required)
    just trying to understand the new social construct….

  6. hmmm.... on April 20th, 2011 11:53 am

    Be reminded that guns don’t kill…people do! And if a person doesn’t own a gun, they will certainly find some other many to take another person’s life. So, lay off gun control and the NRA!!! I know people that own guns and they aren’t murderers!!! Don’t be ignorant!

  7. David Huie Green on April 20th, 2011 11:08 am

    REGARDING:
    “Not as long as the NRA pays off all the politicians to keep guns all over the streets. This country is so brainwashed about their gun rights.”

    I’m just guessing here, as usual, but I’d bet the people involved were not members of the National Rifle Association.

    If people carry guns, it is because they don’t feel safe. They don’t feel safe because they know people who will attack them for a number of reasons such as money, sex, race or just being in the wrong place–such as Atmore people at a Century party. As soon as people feel safe, they will feel no reason to bear arms since they are often heavy and a nuisance.

    It’s not really brain washing about gun rights if they actually exist–and they do. We have a right to do many things which we don’t bother to do. It’s only when people who are “smarter” than we are try to limit our rights that we get nervous.

    Even if you could eliminate all firearms, you still have the people who would attack you with baseball bats or knives or simply their superior fighting ability.

    If we could just get along, we wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked by unruly sorts. Until then…..

    (And please don’t pick on her, she meant “assault rifles,” not “artillery rifles.” Worse mistakes have been made. Lots of people think the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights shouldn’t apply to what they consider ugly guns. They’re wrong, but it’s what they believe.)

    David for understanding, aesthetics and peace

  8. hmmm.... on April 20th, 2011 11:05 am

    You hope Atmore doesn’t become like Prichard? Atmore has been called for Little Prichard for almost 15 years!!! You can thank those money-hungry business people from years ago that suppressed Atmore and ran off any opportunity for economic growth! Someone told me once that Atmore was a fun place to live many, many years ago…there were so many wonderful community activities, the schools were great, and it was a safe place to live. My how times have changed! When a town doesn’t have anything to offer, that is when the riff raff moves in and starts all the fighting, shooting, stealing, etc. And the “riff raff” type of people don’t teach their children anything about morals and ethics. And the cycle continues for years and years and years!! And this is true for the country as a whole and not just Atmore. I used to say that our country is going to hell in a hand-basket…I was so wrong…we are traveling on a Concorde Supersonic Jet.

  9. letsgohunting on April 20th, 2011 9:43 am

    Well, this back woods, gun owning family that I live in respect the fact that violence should be treated in a different way than this. Our guns are used to hunt, not kill or attempt to kill a human life. And the majority of people here in this back woods town are the same way. Need to look at what side of the street you are talking about before you label the entire town.

  10. Thinker on April 20th, 2011 9:25 am

    Don’t disrespect anyone verbally and when disrespected, just know you are better than that and don’t respond. It takes two to tango. We all have choices and it’s true that we do model behavior for our children. Gangs are another story. Don’t join a mob, don’t join a church, be your own person, learn to like yourself and have compassion for others. Plan your life and work your plan.

    Or ignore all of the above and kill each other. That will help the rest of us.

  11. Oak Grove Bud on April 20th, 2011 9:00 am

    Hope Atmore doesn’t become like Prichard Alabama…….shootings there almost every day and night.

  12. Kay on April 20th, 2011 8:10 am

    This is absolutely deplorable and will certainly set a great example to the
    up coming generation. Kuddos to the adults who solve problems in this
    manner.

    @Sierra
    Your right hon your wasting your breath. They will just fight with YOU over
    your opinion because your not supposed to have one that differs from
    any of the back woods thinking of the gun toting criminals around us.

  13. Greg on April 20th, 2011 7:23 am

    from, Sierra
    “they were shooting muskets not artillary rifles”

    What’s an artillary rifle?

  14. My2cents on April 20th, 2011 7:14 am

    People have been killing each other since way before gun powder was invented.If there were no guns they would use whatever else they could find.Are you going to ban everything that can kill?As far as this incident lets hear everything before we convict him.We all tend to be quick to judge including myself.

  15. CW on April 19th, 2011 11:37 pm

    @Sierra
    If guns are the problem then why isn’t the crime everywhere? I own guns and so do my neighbors, yet we dont get out there and shoot each other. This stuff seems to happen in the same old areas over and over again.

  16. end of times on April 19th, 2011 11:08 pm

    it all comes down to the good lords words –folks the bible is full feeling everyday

  17. concerned on April 19th, 2011 9:18 pm

    Yes, it’s true children learn how to handle situations by the way they see their parents handling a situation, It’s also true that some parents do not want their kids held responsible for their actions.When parents run to the school and curse the teachers out, the kids learn they can do anything and it’s okay my parents are not going to let me get into trouble. It’s sad that some kids do not think anything of killing anyone that gets in their way.How can our kids learn if they are not taught. and teaching has to come from parents to live what they preach!

  18. Iceman on April 19th, 2011 7:04 pm

    sierra: I know this is off the subject of the story line, but thought I HAD to respond to your comment. Do you honestly think that if the law abiding, gun owning citizens of this country had their guns taken away that the gun violence would stop? I would bet that the one used in this crime was not owned/purchased legally. And, I suggest you wake up and crack a history book and try to grasp how this country made it to be the great nation that we have became. As I have stated many times, if you don’t love it, pack up and leave it. “The Land of The Free & Home of The Brave” is not just a statement, many died and are still doing so for this great nation. And yes, an NRA Life Member..

  19. EJ on April 19th, 2011 5:51 pm

    sierra, instead of showing your ignorance concerning the NRA and the 2nd amendment, you should, as you said, not wasted your energy or our time. This has NOTHING to do with the NRA or the 2nd amendment. It’s about family morals and upbringing.

  20. BooBoo on April 19th, 2011 5:39 pm

    When the children see the parents handle a situation as these did…the message to the kids is..This is the way its done…like Mom and Dad did…but a shooting ?? wow…that saying goes…Dont bring a BAT to a GUN fight…or is the Dont bring a GUN to a BAT fight…should have a law to ban bats…then this would not have happened…no..they cant get along

  21. southern by choice on April 19th, 2011 4:28 pm

    When you have the parents acting like animals, then the kids just don’t stand much chance of turning into law-abiding citizens. So until the cycle ends, this type of madness will just continue on and on. Very sad, to say the least.

    And David, I agree with what you have said. I also grew up in a time when you knew if you got in trouble in school you had hell to pay when you got home. But it seems that nowadays, some of the parents go to the school and accuse the teachers of being unfair to their child instead of holding the child accountable for his or her actions. But I imagine that most of these adults grew up in households where the adults acted like crazy animals, therefore they never learned anything different, so like I said before, the cycle just keeps on going and going.

  22. sierra on April 19th, 2011 4:22 pm

    Not as long as the NRA pays off all the polticians to keep guns all over the streets. This country is so brainwashed about their gun rights. Back when the right to bear arms was written – they were shooting muskets not artillary rifles. I’m wasting my energy on this because the good ole boys round here freak out when they think someone might take their weapons. Our country was founded with violence (and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air) so I suppose this violent society will never change.

  23. EMD on April 19th, 2011 1:39 pm

    David. What happened is that most don’t even pretend to put God first anymore. And, He is not welcomed imto the schools. Most, including “Christians,” do not read (much less study) their Maker’s manuel. Most do not believe all of it when they read it. That is what happened, IMHO

  24. @ David on April 19th, 2011 1:19 pm

    If everyone would go back to the basics, we could get along, at least a helluva lot better than some do now.

    Kids learn from what they see and hear at home…no wonder our future is so unsettling to ponder!

    There where rules when I was being raised. You had actions and you had consequences…what happened to all of these things?

  25. Atmore 1 on April 19th, 2011 1:09 pm

    I agree David, It’s getting more and more sad! All the fighting, shooting and everything else!

  26. David Huie Green on April 19th, 2011 11:52 am

    can’t we all just get along?