People With Local Ties Recall Near Misses at Fordyce Shooting

RISON - While Cleveland County residents were among the victims of last Friday's deadly mass shooting at the Mad Butcher in Fordyce, there were also others from the county who narrowly missed being part of the tragic event.Among those who had close calls were Ronald Clayton, a former resident of Rison now living north of Fordyce, and Kingsland Mayor Sharon Crosby. Unknowingly the two of them crossed paths trying during the frantic episode.Clayton said he and his wife, Judy, were pulling into the 4th Street entrance of the Mad Butcher in Fordyce when they heard what he thought were rocks hitting his car. He said he pulled over to the edge of the parking lot next to the Rent-A-Center thinking there were some youth in the grassy area there throwing rocks at his car.As he opened his car door and stepped out, Clayton said a shot was fired at their car, and this time he heard the shotgun pellets bouncing off the front windshield of the car and whizzing by his head. Clayton recalled seeing just one police officer at the scene at that time. He said the officer was out of his car with a rifle drawn, and his police unit was parked near the Rent-A-Center side the parking lot.While Clayton said he did not see the shooter himself, his wife did, alerting him of the danger. Clayton said he did see a person laying on the ground in the parking lot.Understanding the situation, Clayton said he quickly got back in his car and sped around the patrol car, exiting the parking lot via the side entrance that intersects Edgar Street. Along the way, he said he warned a car driving into the parking lot about what was going on. That car happen to be Crosby.Clayton said he stopped at the Mexican restaurant to warn them about what was happening, but the man did not seem to understand. From there, he drove the Subway restaurant where his right front tire went flat after be(see (continued from page 1) ing punctured by one of the shotgun pellets.In...