Sheriff: Officials searching for 1 man who shot at soldiers training in Mississippi; none hurt

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Authorities searched Tuesday for a man who fired gunshots from a vehicle in the vicinity of soldiers at a military facility in Mississippi, although no one was reported wounded, a sheriff said.

The shots were fired near a checkpoint where two soldiers were standing guard to the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Perry County Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith said at a news conference.

"This incident occurred along the eastern edge of Camp Shelby. It did not occur on the base," Smith said.

Authorities do not have a motive. He said earlier reports that two people were involved proved to be wrong.

"We are looking for a 90s model maroon pickup with black rims that sites low to the ground and one white male driver," Smith said.

Mississippi's National Guard said the facility is secure and all personnel accounted for and unharmed.

The large military base south of Hattiesburg is one of the premier training facilities for National Guard troops from across the country and during the height of the Iraq war was often the last stop for National Guard troops training to go to the Middle East.

The base is currently hosting about 4,600 active-duty soldiers, National Guard and reservists from Texas and Mississippi in a summer training exercise.

This summer's training focuses on the coordinated efforts of individual soldiers acting as a platoon, which can vary in size but normally boasts 30-plus members.

Smith said he has asked the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation for help. The FBI and the ATF were also aware, he said.

Camp Shelby officials also were hosting a field hearing Tuesday by the National Commission on the Future of the Army.

The commission is an independent, congressionally mandated panel directed to assess President Barack Obama's recommendations for restructuring the Army's active-duty and reserve component force structures.

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The story corrects an earlier version in which the sheriff said authorities were looking for two men. They are looking for one man.