OPD searching for Hardin Street shooter

On May 14, 2023, around 1:08 AM, a disturbance started inside the HJM Club on Hardin Street, which is inside the City Limits of Opp.  Opp Officers who were already on scene because of the large crowd, observed people running from the club over into the parking lot of the Hardin Street Community Center.

As officers were trying to determine what was going on, several gun shots rang out in the parking lot of the Community Center toward the front of the building with one of those bullets hitting an investigator’s vehicle. Officers attempted to find the shooters but could not because of the amount of people running, plus vehicles now starting to leave the property.

While officers were searching for the shooters, witnesses led officers to a Nissan Altima that was trying to leave. As officers were removing individuals out of the Altima, the back seat passenger fled on foot. Opp Police Officers and Covington County Sheriff’s Deputies gave chase but lost the individual in the wooded area across from Kolb Avenue. The Covington County K-9 Team was contacted to assist in tracking that individual.  Investigators then located and recovered one handgun inside the Nissan Altima, which was hot to the touch.  Officers also located another handgun in the roadway, which was in the same area as to where the back seat passenger ran.

Officers also encountered a Dodge Challenger that was trying to leave the area, but officers noticed that this vehicle had been hit three times with bullets. Officers observed an AR-15 style rifle and another handgun that had a high-capacity magazine in the driver’s floorboard of the Challenger.

Officers also found another handgun lying in the roadway on Hardin Street and two more handguns that were removed out of a vehicle at Mizell Memorial Hospital.

The Opp Police Department was notified by Mizell Memorial Hospital of two individuals who arrived at the ER with injuries.  One individual had a gunshot wound to the arm and the other individual was stabbed in the abdomen area. Both of these injuries are non-life threatening.  

Enterprise Medical Center also notified the Opp Police Department of a male subject who entered their ER with a stab wound. That individual refused to cooperate with Police and would not give any information.

The individual that ran on foot was not located by the tracking team.     

Search warrants will be obtained by Opp Investigators for the Nissan Altima and Dodge Challenger. 

If anyone in the public has information about this case, especially in identifying the shooters, please contact the Opp Police Department at 334-493-4511. 

”We would like to thank the Covington County Sheriff’s Office, Florala Police Department, Elba Police Department, and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Officer for their quick response to the scene to assist our officers with this call,” said Chief Kevin Chance.