FORDYCE – The back of Wanda Gaskey’s shirt tells the importance of the day: “For Those That Were Lost | Will Never Be Forgotten | 6-21-2024.”
June 21, 2024, became a dark day in Fordyce’s history. A gunman went into The Mad Butcher grocery store in town at about 11:38 a.m. and shot four people to death – Ellen Shrum, 81; Callie Weems, 23; Roy Sturgis, 50; and Shirley Taylor, 63. Eleven others were injured.
Gaskey, who lives in nearby Thornton, said Weems used to babysit her granddaughter. Ever since the shooting, Gaskey said, the little girl would ask: “When’s Callie coming back?”
Saturday marked the first anniversary of the mass shooting, rocking this otherwise quiet town of at least 3,100. A small crowd gathered at a ballpark near the Fordyce Civic Center to release white balloons, many of them with written messages in memory of those lost, into the mostly clear sky.
The memorial lasted about 10 minutes and drew just a few speakers.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I grew up in this town and been a member of this community my whole life,” said local pastor Kevin Hornaday. “My family, we’ve been here since the 1800s. This tragedy makes me think of the song: ‘Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)’? Everybody that’s here that encountered this horrific time, you can remember the spot you were at when the world stopped. That’s what happened that day in Fordyce. The world stopped.”
Hornaday, who offered a prayer, said he was in Monticello when he received a phone call about the shooting. He added the deceased victims were friends and loved ones of Fordyce.
“When they left, they left holes in our lives, right?” he said. “But today, I also want to talk to you about you. Because, see, they faced something we’re all going to face one day, and that’s eternity.”
Kervin Sumler, a Fordyce native who works at Havoc Boats, attended the balloon release with a group of friends. He said he knew each of the victims, given the small-town connections.
“I pray about it every day and pray for the families who were affected and try to get past it,” Sumler said. “It’s something you never get past, but like I said, you got to stay prayed up and hope and pray it never happens again and all the ones who were affected can try to recover a little bit.”
The shooting has changed Sumler’s sense of community. He said he tries to become more aware of his surroundings and interactions with others.
Another attendee, Betty Strong, said the deceased were Christians and are “dancing in front of their Jesus.” She added a prayer for peace and comfort to affected families and that they may never be forgotten.
“I love everybody. I love the Redbugs. I love Dallas County. Amen,” Strong said.
The Fordyce High School Redbugs have been a source of pride in the school year that followed the shooting. The football team went undefeated in the regular season and made it to the state semifinals, finishing the season 13-1. The boys track and field team won a state championship last month, earning statewide Coach of the Year honors for Anthony Hammonds.
Fordyce Alderwoman Sierra Hempstead, a board president for HopePlace Fordyce (a pregnancy resource center) who works at Millcreek behavioral health center, said she’s a “big encourager” in the town and shows up to all its events.
“When it comes to sports in the Fordyce community, we’re really big on football and basketball, track, and that just gives Fordyce more to zoom in on,” said Hempstead, a University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff graduate who otherwise spent her entire life in Fordyce. “We have a big turnout when it comes to these games. Not only do the parents show out to these games, we have a community that comes out and we’re right now preparing for football. We’re just Fordyce strong in all the areas.”
The ceremony was held less than a week after a hearing in the state’s trial against Travis Eugene Posey, now 45, was postponed to July 16. The trial is scheduled for Aug. 4-22 in 13th Circuit Court (Dallas County).
Posey is charged with four counts of Class Y capital murder, which carry the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty, and 11 counts of Class Y attempted capital murder, which carry the possibility of 10-40 years or life in prison.
James Ryan Johnson, Sharon Rose Brazil, Thomas Brazil, Brittney Sullivent, Demaria Cooper, Kasey Harbour, Latoya Allen, Silas Compton, Jacqueline Curb, Ronald Clayton and Judy Clayton were injured in the shooting, according to online court records. Johnson is a Fordyce police officer.
A Stuttgart police officer, John Hudson, received minor injuries, according to state police.
Sullivent and her husband, Jeromy, have filed a civil suit against Posey. The plaintiffs filed a motion for default judgment totaling $13.8 million in May.
Fordyce Mayor John MacNichol declined to comment when asked how Fordyce has dealt with the tragedy, citing advice from the prosecuting attorney.
Hempstead, who said she used to go to The Mad Butcher during her lunch breaks, said the shooting has changed her perspective on the safety of her hometown but added it’s still a good place to live.
“Myself and many others in the community really thought Fordyce was just a safe haven. There was nothing negative to come by as far as crime,” she said. “Because that has happened in our little town, it just put more awareness on us. People are more scared to do something. As far as going back to the grocery store, people are just now getting into the swing of things, going to our neighborhood store. It’s made us a little more nervous, but it’s led us to talking more to God and actually get more into our faiths. So, it has been a big deal in a bad sense and a good sense to get closer to God.”
