On July 8, 1993, a violent crime spree claimed the life of William Massey, a 33-year-old White male from Jackson, Mississippi, along with several others in a tragedy that spanned two locations. Massey was at a bar in the Jackson area when the incident began. The gunman, identified as Alan Dorris, opened fire inside the establishment, creating a chaotic and deadly scene. Massey was fatally shot during the attack, which also resulted in the deaths of 41-year-old Ronald R.
Johnson and 16-year-old Stacey D. Cooksey. The shooting at the bar was only the first part of the perpetrator's deadly rampage that day.
After the shooting at the bar near Jackson, Alan Dorris traveled approximately 90 miles to a residence in Greenville, Mississippi. There, he continued his violence, shooting and killing 75-year-old Reta Hobart and her son, 35-year-old Thomas Hobart Jr., inside their home. The spree ended when Dorris attempted to take his own life, sustaining a gunshot wound to the mouth but surviving the injury. Authorities discovered him lying outside his truck in a park near Hot Springs, Arkansas, where they found notes in which he admitted to the killings in both the Jackson area and Greenville.
Law enforcement officers arrested Alan Dorris, who was 32 years old at the time, and charged him with five counts of murder. A second suspect, 31-year-old Michael Laney of Jackson, was also taken into custody and charged with three counts of murder specifically related to the shootings at the bar. Laney had initially been questioned as a material witness before being formally accused as an accomplice in the Jackson slayings. Dorris, who faced charges for all five deaths, was eventually sentenced to life in prison for his role as the primary gunman in the massacre.
