Mississippi Valley State guard paralyzed after shooting

[PV-PRIDE]

Shootings shock Valley!!!!

Shootings shock Valley


MVSU's Michael Archie puts up a shot in this undated game photo. Archie, a sophomore guard on the Delta Devils basketball team, was shot at a night club in Itta Bena Sunday morning. He was transported to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where his condition could not be determined. (Photo by the Delta Democrat Times)
Gunfire erupts at nightspot

By TONY KRAUSZ -- Delta Democrat Times

ITTA BENA -- Two Mississippi Valley State University student-athletes suffered gunshot wounds early Sunday morning at an off-campus location, university officials said.

Delta Devils basketball player Michael Archie of Greenwood and Devilettes volleyball player Danielle France of Atlanta were shot at the Club Focus night club off U.S. 82 near the school's campus.

Late Sunday night, it was still unclear what precipitated the shooting or how many shots were fired. Leflore County Sheriff's Department officials could not be reached for comment about whether an arrest had been made in the incident.

Archie and France were taken to Greenwood-Leflore Hospital after the incident. France was released on Sunday, and Archie was transported to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where his condition could not be determined.

But it was clear that the shootings had shaken the sudents and faculty on the Itta Bena campus.

"We are in a state of shock," said MVSU Athletic Director Lonza Hardy in a telephone interview Sunday. "We are all pulling together praying for both Michael and Danielle.

"We hope both of them have a full recovery, and we are praying for their families. We are there to assist them in any way we can" Hardy added.

The incident occurred after the MVSU men's basketball team defeated Prairie View A&M 87-68 on Saturday night at the Harrison HPER Complex.

Archie, France and an unidentified person, who was not a student at MVSU, were at the club when the shooting occurred, university officials said Sunday.

"It is being investigated by the Leflore County Sheriff's department," Hardy said. "From all indication from what we have heard, they were apparently bystanders. They just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks was unavailable for comment on Sunday.

"I have not heard anything about his condition," Hardy said. "I do know he was transferred from Greenwood to Jackson at some point this morning, but I'm not aware of what his condition is."

Because the night club where the shooting occurred is located off the university's campus the Leflore County Sheriff's Department will be handling the investigation, university officials said.

An unidentified person was killed in the incodent according to a release from the university.

MVSU executive assistant to the president, Tonjanita Johnson said the shooting has shaken the small Delta community and the campus' student body.

"At this point, it is a mood of concern," she said. "Everyone is very concerned the faculty, staff and students. Everyone's prayers and thoughts are with the two victims. We are just praying for their speedy recovery.

"It is a shocking situation, and the best thing you can do is pray for them," Johnson added. "When you have a campus as safe as our campus, and you are in a small area like Itta Bena; you really feel comfortable and very safe. When an incident like this happens it is very shocking and a cause for concern."

MVSU head men's basketball coach Lafayette Stribling declined to comment on the incident on Sunday.

Hardy said counseling will be made available for Archie's and France's teammates and the student body at MVSU to help deal with the trauma of the incident.

"The coaches will be involved in counseling their respective student athletes," Hardy said. "They will keep us advised on the moods of those students, and if they need counseling. Through our student affairs office we do have a comprehensive counseling service on campus."

 

[Get Ready]

Archie is the brother of JSU football player Llvee Archie.....
I see folks just dont know how to act.
I bet this is the white mans fault.

 

[Taylor-Made'90]

I hope both kids fully recover....This is beyond sad....

:shame:

 

[C-LeB28]

I am so sorry to hear this. Archie was a key player for MVSU averaging 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for the Delta Devils.

I wish you the best on your road to recovery. God Bless.

 

[PV-PRIDE]

I'm not sure of the validity, but I have heard that Michael may have some paralysis. I hope this is not the case. Let's continue to pray for the victim's families and the Valley family.

 

[Panther88]

Man :smh: I hope both recover fully and I'm praying for the victim's family/friends. Shameful that stuff like that happens!

 

[kellis]

I know the guy who died. He was a small time drug dealer who thought he was bigger than life itself. He had escaped death several times but I guess he used his 9th life.

This was taken from the Greenwood Commonwealth.

Greenwood gunman killed; three bystanders injured, including two MVSU athletes
A security guard is charged with murder following an Itta Bena nightclub shooting that left a gunman dead and injured three bystanders, two of them Mississippi Valley State University student athletes.

Among the victims is Michael Archie, 20, of 800 Rose St. He was shot in the side as he tried to leave Club Focus around 1 a.m. Sunday. The stray bullet caused a spinal cord injury that has apparently paralyzed him from the waist down, according to his mother, Carol Archie.

Archie, a starter on the Valley basketball team and a former honors student and stand-out athlete at Greenwood High School, was in fair condition in intensive care at University Medical Center in Jackson this morning. A UMC spokesman said he was expected to be moved to a hospital room sometime today.

"Right now the doctors are saying he will not walk again," his mother said this morning.

The bullet that hit Archie was among a volley of gunshots fired inside Club Focus on Sunflower Road around 1 a.m. Sunday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said. The fight broke out apparently when Alonzo Hemphill of 308 E. Percy St. reportedly forced his way into the club at gunpoint, Banks said.

Hemphill, whose age was not available, was shot four times and killed after allegedly firing at least two gunshots toward the dance floor, Banks said. No gun has been recovered.

"We have witnesses who verified Hemphill did have a gun," Banks said.

Sheriff's deputies arrested a security guard for the club, Johny King, 35, of 1015-B Lindsey Ave. He is charged with murder and remained in jail this morning without bond.

Also injured were MVSU volleyball player Danielle France, 19, of Decatur, Ga., and Toland Hudson, 25, of Itta Bena.

Both were near the dance floor when the shots were fired, Banks said.

France, who was shot in the shoulder, was treated at Greenwood Leflore Hospital and released. Hudson is still there in good condition with a gunshot wound in his hip.
No one is certain who fired the bullets that hit the victims, Banks said.

"There's no way for us to tell who shot whom until we get some ballistics done from the State Crime Lab," he said.

King told the Sheriff's Department he was responding to gunfire outside the club when Hemphill walked in with a gun in his hand, according to Banks. That's when Hemphill was first shot, Banks said.

King told authorities he fired five more times as Hemphill tried to flee the club, Banks said. "King said somebody knocked him down, and when he was falling down, his finger was still on the trigger of the gun," Banks said.

The shooting occurred hours after Mississippi Valley State's 87-68 home win against Prairie View A&M University. Archie scored 11 points in that game.

MVSU Police Chief Rafus Davis, a friend of Archie's family, attended the game. "The last thing I saw him do was dunk the ball," he said.

Carol Archie said news of the shooting was hard to believe. "It's just something to see a child play in a basketball game and two hours later to see him on a stretcher."

As word of the shooting continued to spread Sunday and today, calls of concern to the Archie house have been coming in from all over the community.

"Our phone is just ringing off the hook, and we're sorry we are not able to talk to everybody," Mrs. Archie said. "We are talking to as many as we can."

Athletics have defined Archie since he was a Greenwood Exchange Club Youth Baseball pitcher. He played three sports for Greenwood High, was named Mr. GHS in 2001, was inducted into the yearbook hall of fame and graduated with honors in 2001 with a basketball scholarship to Mississippi Valley State.

Archie is the team's third leading scorer, averaging 11.2 points per game for Mississippi Valley (5-10, 4-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) - ranking him 19th in the SWAC in scoring. Archie has started 10 of the Delta Devils' 15 games.

Mississippi Valley State basketball coach Lafayette Stribling said this morning that he wasn't allowed to comment, referring all questions to President Lester Newman.

The MVSU community was shocked, said Tonja Johnson, chief of staff for Newman. The university is offering counseling services for students who are upset.

"It has been quite shocking, and we all have been very concerned for students who are involved in the situation," Johnson said.

Archie was considered one of the top 20 players in the state coming out of Greenwood High School. As a senior, he was named the Commonwealth's Player of the Year award for the 2000-'01 season. Archie averaged 23 points and six rebounds a game as he led the Bulldogs to a 22-9 record.

As a junior, he helped guide the Bulldogs to one of their best seasons in recent history. He averaged 16.2 points and a team-high 10.2 rebounds as GHS finished 31-4, losing in the semifinals of the state basketball tournament. It was the school's first appearance in the Big House in 15 years.

He also excelled off the court.

"At school, Michael was an ideal kid," said Alfred Hall, GHS athletic director. "He always carried himself in a respectful way and was always on the positive side.

"We were shocked and saddened by this news. We just hope he can overcome this and live a normal, active lifestyle."

Archie had been considering a fall football season under new head coach Willie Totten, his mother said.

"He said he might want to play for Coach Totten," she said. "We said, 'Well, we've got to get through basketball season first.'

"We have faith in God, and we know this happened for a reason. We just don't understand right now why it had to happen to Michael."

Archie is still very much a part of the Greenwood High community, said Margaret Dean, communications director for Greenwood Public Schools.

"We're just all stunned," she said. "All of his former teachers and people who know him here, we're just praying for his recovery."

Mrs. Archie said the shooting should be a lesson to the local community that it has to make some changes.

"My husband and I hope this is a wakeup call for this community about all of this senseless shooting that's been going on," she said. "We just hope that some good comes out of this."

Four people have been killed in incidents at Club Focus in the last 15 years, according to Sheriff Banks. This time, his department also seized six poker machines.

"We've talked with the county attorney about trying to get the place closed down," Banks said.

 

[normalite9tre]

It's sad, but I dont think you will ever be able to get rid of these little "juke-joint" type of places. From big cities to small towns, people ways seem to get shot there. They close down for a minute, then reopen under a new name.

 

[Quietstorm]

Monday, January 27

Stray bullet paralyzes Archie from waist down

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press


ITTA BENA, Miss. -- Mississippi Valley State guard Michael Archie was paralyzed by a stray bullet fired in a nightclub shootout, his family said Monday.

Archie was hit in the side early Sunday in a shooting that also left a man dead and wounded two others, including volleyball player Danielle France.

Doctors told Carol Archie that her son is "essentially" paralyzed from the waist down.

"The doctors are saying he will not have the use of his legs," she said from her son's room at the University Medical Center in Jackson.

The 20-year-old starter averaged 11.2 points this season. He was shot hours after scoring 11 points in a 87-68 home win against Prairie View A&M.

Gunshots were fired inside the nightclub after a fight broke out, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said.

Alonzo Hemphill allegedly fired a gun before being shot and killed. Sheriff's deputies arrested a club security guard, Banks said. It was unclear whose shots injured the other men.

 

[EB]

This is so sad.

 

[J C]

Tragic. My prayers go out to the families.

 

[Devilsh1]

We are asking for everyones prayers, at the Valley and for the victims families. We are very torn about this sitiuation that has happened. Micheal is a good friend of mine and my church member. I am very sadden by what has happened to Mike "Heartburn" Archie. Prayers will go a long way, and thats what we are asking for.

 

[LaMont]

You mean in the last month, we have seen shootings of players at Southern, Grambling and MVSU. When are we going to put a stop to this?

 

[dacontinent]

Originally posted by LaMont
You mean in the last month, we have seen shootings of players at Southern, Grambling and MVSU. When are we going to put a stop to this?

Stop it??!! Never. But it can be curtailed if our college students stay out of environments which lend themselves to that type of activity. That would call for more...maturity...discipline...focus.

 

[ABE]

So why exactly is the security guard in trouble?

 

["NOISE TALKA"]

This is sad, we talked about this in class today. One of my classmates and the Archie guy are really good friends. He's going to see him in the hospital for the first time today and he was asking us what he should say. It's just a sad situation and like we were saying there's nothing you can really do but pray for him and just be positive. So unfortunate for stuff like this to happen.

 

[kellis]

Taken from the Greenwood Commonwealth

Security guard apparently fired 10 shots

By: John Martin, Staff Writer January 28, 2003


One killed, three wounded at club
A nightclub security guard charged with murder evidently fired 10 shots from a 9mm handgun in a weekend shooting that left Mississippi Valley State University basketball player Michael Archie paralyzed, authorities say.

The guard, Johny King, 35, of 1015-B Lindsey Ave., was arrested early Sunday morning after an attempt to clear rowdy customers from Club Focus in Itta Bena ended in gunfire around 1 a.m. Sunday, according to Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks.

Alonzo Hemphill, 27, who witnesses say re-entered the club at gunpoint and fired two shots toward the dance floor, was hit four times and killed in the exchange.

Wounded were Archie, MVSU women's volleyball player Danielle France, 19, of Decatur, Ga., and Toland Hudson, 25, of Itta Bena.

Archie, 20, is in fair condition at University Medical Center in Jackson after undergoing surgery. His mother, Carol Archie, reports that he is paralyzed from the waist down but is recovering "as well as can be expected."

"He opens his eyes and squeezes your hand," Mrs. Archie said from the hospital Monday afternoon.

France was treated at Greenwood Leflore Hospital for a bullet wound in the shoulder and released. Hudson was still in the hospital in good condition this morning with a gunshot wound in his hip.

King was still in jail this morning with bond set at $50,000. He is charged with murder, but extra charges of aggravated assault are possible pending the results of ballistics tests on the bullets that hit Archie and Hudson.

Authorities have not recovered the bullet that hit France. She went home to Georgia after the shooting and is expected to return for an interview this week, Banks said.

After the Sunday shooting, sheriff's deputies recovered a 9mm handgun that King was carrying along with four full magazines strapped to King's belt. King had emptied one magazine cartridge, which holds 10 bullets, Banks said.

Authorities have not determined who fired the stray bullets that caught Archie as he was leaving and two other victims, who were near the dance floor.

The bullet that hit Archie causing a spinal cord injury, has been retrieved. Although results from a ballistics test are pending, the bullet appears to be of a caliber matching a 9mm, Banks said.

The Sheriff's Department still isn't sure what kind of weapon Hemphill used. They plan to test Hemphill's hand for evidence that he even fired a gun, but reports from King and another witness are pointing to a revolver, which would rule out Hemphill as Archie's shooter, said Banks.

"The description I got from one of the witnesses was that Hemphill was shooting a silver revolver, and if he was, they don't make a 9mm revolver," Banks said.

Both King and Hemphill have a history of offenses involving firearms at the Mississippi Valley State.

King, a Cruger volunteer police officer, was charged in October 2001 with possession of a deadly weapon on a school campus while he was living in Leflore Hall at Valley. He was reported to have been armed with two handguns.

The case went to Leflore County Justice Court, where it apparently is still pending.

In October 2002, the Sheriff's Department arrested King for exhibiting a weapon in the Club Focus parking lot. That case was dismissed.

Hemphill was involved in a March 1999 mid-day shootout on the Valley campus. He was wounded in that incident, convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to probation.

A search of the vehicle that Hemphill was using turned up marijuana. Timothy Williams, who was with Hemphill the night of the shooting, was arrested for possession of marijuana after the incident. He was released Monday on a $10,000 bond.

?Greenwood Commonwealth 2003

 

[kellis]

Another article from the Greenwood Commonwealth

Sunday was third time victim has left club wounded

By: John Martin, Staff Writer January 29, 2003




Shooting victim speaks out about incident
Sunday wasn't the first time Toland Hudson has felt lucky to be alive after a night at Club Focus.

It was the shooting victim's third brush with danger at the Itta Bena nightclub. Hudson has been hit by a car and shot once before. Last weekend, he was among the casualties of a now-notorious shooting there.

After the gunfire fell silent inside Club Focus in the wee morning hours Sunday, Hudson walked around for a while.

Like everyone else inside, Hudson hit the floor when the shooting started near the dance floor around 1 a.m.. He recalled that shots rang over his head - most of them.

As people were fleeing the scene, he noticed something was wrong with his hip.

"I told my friend I was feeling pain," Hudson, 25, of Itta Bena said Tuesday from his room at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. "I pulled my shirt back and saw blood."

Even then, he thought he had only been grazed. What looked like a flesh wound didn't hurt that badly, he said. "I thought I had been scraped by the bullet. I didn't know the bullet went through."

Surgery was required to remove the bullet, and Hudson was expected to leave Greenwood Leflore Hospital today.

The shooting wreaked far more havoc, leaving Alonzo Hemphill, one of the alleged gunmen, dead and Club Focus security guard Johny King, 35, of 1015-B Lindsey Ave. in jail accused of his murder.

The event sent a pall over the Mississippi Valley State University campus after news spread that two of its athletes had been caught in the crossfire. MVSU volleyball player Danielle France, 19, of Decatur, Ga., was treated at the hospital and released with a bullet still lodged in her shoulder.

But basketball starter Michael Archie of Greenwood was not so fortunate. Archie, 20, a hometown hero known for his athletic prowess and academic standing, was left paralyzed from the waist down. This morning, the sophomore forward was still in fair condition Jackson's University Medical Center, recovering from surgery.

Archie has been a part of Hudson's days for the year and a half Hudson has worked on the building and grounds crew at Valley. Hudson thought Tuesday about the times he and Archie would run into each other on campus. "Every time I see him, I holler at him," said Hudson.

It is still uncertain who fired the shots that hit Hudson, Archie and France. Both King and Hemphill reportedly had guns. The Leflore County Sheriff's Department is still investigating the incident and awaiting the results of ballistics tests on the bullets extracted from Hudson and Archie.

The only gun Hudson says he remembers is the one held by King, whose face was covered during the shooting.

"When the security guard works, he has a ski mask over his face so you can't see anything but his eyes," said Hudson.

Upon recovering the 9mm handgun, authorities discovered that King had emptied a 10-bullet clip and reloaded with one of the four full magazines strapped to his belt, according to Sheriff Ricky Banks.

King, who owns King Security, also volunteers as a Cruger police officer. He was still in jail this morning with a $50,000 bond.

Hudson's nights at Club Focus have been unfortunate.

"This was the third incident that happened out there," said Perry Hudson of Yazoo City, sitting by his son's hospital bed. "The last time he was shot out there was about 21/2 or three years ago."

That involved a spat with a Greenwood man who shot the younger Hudson in the side as he was leaving the club, his father said. That time, Hudson stayed in the hospital two weeks.

Four years ago, walking home from the club, Hudson was hit by a drunk driver who also had been there.

This third visit to the hospital is warning enough for Hudson to give Club Focus a wide berth. "I'm not going back there," he said.

Sheriff Banks wants to make it so no one can. Banks said he has tried to close the night club after previous fatal incidents occurred there. Those intentions, however, have run into roadblocks. Under existing law, Leflore County cannot regulate beer licenses.

"We don't have any authority," Banks said.

He counted as many as 10 beer joints throughout the county that are hot spots for the Sheriff's Department. "They're sort of like this establishment is - a lounge with a disc jockey and pool tables where they sell beer."

The Sheriff's Department can shutter a nightclub following dangerous activity, but only temporarily, he said.

Every time Club Focus has been forced to close, it has switched hands and reopened, according to Banks. After this shooting, though, current owner Rosie Meeks might not get to follow in that tradition. Deputies responding to the incident also confiscated six illegal gaming machines, and Banks said charges against Meeks are pending.

"We've closed it before, and all they do is open back up in somebody else's name," he said. "I'm trying to get the authority to close it so that building can't be used for anything anymore."


?Greenwood Commonwealth 2003

 

[sophandros]

How do we stop this?

As dacontinent said, stop going to clubs of that ilk. BTW, the club where the SU guy was shot was in Tigerland, which is an LSU hangout and predominantly white. Perhaps we should be more careful when we go out. One rule that I follow is that if they frisk you at the door, I don't want to be in there. Another is to avoid places where you KNOW there are foolish drug-slingers around.

But I think that teh problem goes beyond college people getting shot. How do we put an end to shootings? Well, for some reason many young Black men have an obsession with guns and violence as a means to solve problems. Less machismo and more mental would help that problem. It seems that (like a dog or a snake) many of these guys see a gun as an extension of their penis. Their insecurity leads them to think that if they have this weapon, they can do anything. They don't realize that if they put their mind to it, they can do anything. But how do we stop violence when these kids are taught at young ages that violence solves disputes? Well, I think that we can't stop 20 year olds from doing things, but we can raise our children to think differently. All of this starts with certain mentalities which are symptoms of a self-destructive complex.