2 hospitalized, 3 charged after child-custody shootout at Ocean Springs Police Department

Authorities charged three men after a child custody exchange led to gunfire Monday evening in the parking lot of the Ocean Springs Police Department.

Police arrested the child’s father, 27-year-old Anthony Hall Jr., on one count of aggravated assault.

The child’s stepfather, 27-year-old Devon Gray, faces two counts of aggravated assault, Deputy Chief Steven Dye said. Corrie Taylor, 23, who is a friend of Hall, faces one count of aggravated assault, Dye said.

Gray and Taylor were hospitalized Monday evening and in stable condition Tuesday morning, Dye said. They will be arrested once released from Ocean Springs Hospital, and Dye said more charges are pending.

The two-year-old girl was not injured, he said.

The shooting occurred just after 6 p.m. during a custody exchange, Police Chief Ryan Lemaire said. Parents who share custody of a child often do drop-offs in the police department parking lot because it is considered neutral territory, Dye and Lemaire said.

The child, her mother and stepfather arrived at the police department in one car and her father and his friend arrived in another vehicle, Dye said.

Police said the father and stepfather had an ongoing conflict that grew into an argument and ended in a shootout Monday evening between Hall, Gray and Taylor.

Dye called the case a “horrible situation” and said it was a miracle the car the child was in did not get hit with gunfire.