Woman regrets 'freak' shooting; 9th-grader recovering

This part is my favorite: "...[S]he stopped ... to use a phone book and locate a bank."

Woman regrets 'freak' shooting; 9th-grader recovering


Police plan no charges after gun went off in her purse, hit student in leg

By Camille C. Spencer

Tishawunna Funchess said she regrets what she calls a freak accident that wounded a 14-year-old boy after a gun accidentally discharged in her purse outside his school in Jackson earlier this week.

If anything, Funchess, a 28-year-old mother of three from Jackson, said she wanted Christopher Hudson's mother, Montrica Meeks, to know how sorry she is about the accidental shooting. Funchess called Meeks after the Tuesday shooting to explain what happened.

"I feel really bad," she told The Clarion-Ledger in a telephone interview. "It was a big freak accident."
Funchess said she has personal reasons for no longer wanting to carry a weapon.

"My mother died from an accidental shooting," she said, not elaborating. "That's why it will take me awhile to get over it. I didn't try to run. You have to take responsibility for what you do."

Hudson, a ninth-grader, was shot above the left knee around 3 p.m. as students were heading to another building across the street from Emmanuel Christian Academy, 1023 Langley Ave., said pastor J.W. Moore, the school's leader. Hudson was taken to a hospital and released the same day.

Funchess said she stopped at Emmanuel Apostolic Tabernacle, where she is a member, to use a phone book and locate a bank. "I was outside talking to kids like I always do, and I dropped my purse," she said.

Funchess said she has a gun permit for the .22-caliber handgun. She would not disclose why she had the gun in her purse. But she told police "she carried the gun for protection because she had a problem with an individual she had a relationship with," Jackson police spokesman Robert Graham said.

Funchess will not be charged, Graham said, but, as is procedural in shootings, a grand jury will hear the case.

Hudson will continue attending the kindergarten to grade 12 school of about 50 students, Meeks said. He is at home recovering for now, however.

"I'm keeping him at home to watch out for infection," Meeks said. "He wants to walk more than they would like him to."

Doctors told Meeks that the bullet, still lodged in the back of Hudson's left leg, is less than an inch under the surface of his skin. "If he has problems later, they will take (the bullet) out. They recommend it stays in," Meeks said.

Meeks said Funchess "was very apologetic" during their conversation Tuesday. " I know it was an accident, and I know she's grieving."

Classes resumed Wednesday, and parents knew the shooting was an accident, Moore said. "They know it was an isolated incident. That made us feel good to know no one was offended. The reason it was shocking was we hadn't experienced anything like it before."