A Simpson County man was taken into custody after deputies say he confessed to shooting another man near Saratoga Sharon Road.
According to the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched around 8:51 a.m. on November 21 to the area of 327 Saratoga Sharon Road after reports of a gunshot victim. The first responding deputy arrived at the intersection of Saratoga Sharon Road and Rodney Sullivan Road and encountered a white male standing in front of a vehicle with his hands raised.
The man, identified as Jeffrey Kyle Sullivan, immediately told deputies that he had just shot Kenneth Earl Tuggle, authorities said. As deputies made contact with Sullivan, a Canadian National Railroad employee arrived and reported that a man with a gunshot wound had walked onto the nearby railroad service yard.
Deputies responded to that location and found Tuggle suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper right shoulder. Covington County EMS provided medical care at the scene before transporting Tuggle to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg. His condition was not released.
Later that morning, investigators interviewed Sullivan. The sheriff’s office said he was read his rights and voluntarily gave a statement, admitting he shot Tuggle with a Taurus 9mm handgun after encountering him underneath a bridge on Saratoga Sharon Road near Rodney Sullivan Road.
Sullivan released a statement saying the shooting was done in self defense.
The investigation remains ongoing.
