One injured, one arrested in Oakwood shooting

House in Oakwood where shooting occurred. Photo by Melissa Missildine At approximately 8:00 pm on Monday night, Oakwood residents on South Main Street observed a scene like something out of CSI: A gunshot pierced the cool night air. People were scrambling. Someone was shouting, "Call 911!" The shouts came from the two story house on the corner of 505 South Main Street, where a Madisonville man, Jason Brown, was staying with his sister for a few days while their mother is in ICU at Palestine Regional Medical Center. Brown was staying with children at the house Monday night while his sister and another brother were at the hospital tending to their mother. Another guest had just put the children to bed and Brown was outside in the carport when a man aimed and fired a shotgun at him.

Witnesses reported seeing a black male shoot a white male after exchanging words outside the residence. The black man then casually walked away. He did not run as he left the scene. He was spotted walking down South Main Street toward the split in the road of FM 831 and FM 542 with a shotgun propped against his shoulder. A witness followed him in his vehicle to the split in the road while on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator to report which direction he took.

Meanwhile, witnesses and neighbors offered assistance to the victim until paramedics and the police could arrive. Brown held a bloodsoaked towel to his face and head, and a trail of blood led from one end of the kitchen to the other, into the dining room and into the living room. He was having difficulty walking, shaking violently and crying out in pain. Neighbor Melissa Missildine had the victim sit down, checked the wounds and applied pressure. She kept the man calm and alert until the Oakwood Fire Department, EMS, the Oakwood Police Department, and the Leon County Sheriff's Department could arrive. The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening but the victim complained of severe pain and burning in his face and head where he had been peppered with shotgun pellets. His concern was for the children in house and the whereabouts of the shooter. Brown said he was grateful that he hadn't been holding his one-year-old baby at the time of the shooting.

Members of the Oakwood Volunteer Fire Department were the first responders on the scene. Chief Nathan Smith and his son, fellow firefighter Greg Smith, entered the residence, assessed the victim and relayed critical information to the EMS and police. The EMS personnel arrived shortly, made their own assessment, and loaded the victim into the back of the ambulance.

Outside, the man later arrested for the shooting, Derrick Dawson, had returned to the scene. Members of his family rushed to the scene and found Dawson in handcuffs and being questioned. They spoke with law enforcement officers before Dawson was placed in a squad car and driven to the Leon County Sheriff's Department in Centerville. Witness statements were taken by members of the Leon County Sheriff's Department. Another witness from across the street reported that the shotgun blast had damaged his wife's car. A statement was taken from the victim by the Sheriff's Department and Oakwood's Chief of Police Lewis Miller.

Brown's brother left the hospital, where their mother lay in ICU, to come and see if Jason was okay. He got there just before they took his brother away in the ambulance, and was just in time to turn around and go back to the hospital.

After the victim was taken to the hospital and the accused to the county jail, the Crime Scene investigation team arrived and processed both the inside and the outside of the residence for evidence. As of 1:30 Tuesday morning, Dawson had been booked into the County Jail but paperwork had not been completed and therefore, charges had not been filed. At that time, the weapon had not been recovered.

Brown was treated at Palestine Regional for the six shotgun pellet wounds to his face, nasal cavity, and head. He was given antibiotics to ward off infection and released. After her brother’s brush with death, Brown's sister says she's checking her children out of school first thing in the morning and that the family is leaving Oakwood for good. She had only lived here for a couple of weeks, and now, she “regrets moving here at all.”