Hide Article Text (OCR)
By The St. Louis Post-Dispatch For Scripps Howard News Service ST. LOUIS — An engineer on Am trak’s City of New Orleans was wounded by a random shotgun blast fired at the cab early Tuesday as the train passed through Mississippi, of ficials said. The fireman riding in the cab brought the train into Hernando, Miss., without further incident. Two men from Mississippi were ar rested and charged with aggravated assault shortly after the shooting. Authorities believe it was a random act. The incident, plus a construction detour, caused a delay of six hours and 35 minutes for passengers. They arrived at 1:35 p.m. in St. Louis. Debbie Hare, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Chicago, said train No. 58 was northbound when it was fired on at 12:17 a.m. as it went over a railroad bridge across the Col dwater River at Coldwater, in nor thwestern Mississippi. The train, with two locomotives and 11 passenger cars, proceeded seven miles to Hernando, where it stopped and the engineer, James E. Wiggs, 49, of Jonesboro, Il., was taken off. Wiggs was taken to Methodist South Hospital in Memphis, where he was treated for pellet wounds of the right arm and upper lip and released. The fireman, H.D. Rose, was not injured. The fireman is ‘‘sort of an apprentice engineer’’ and actually runs the train for part of the trip. Hare said the train was held in Her nando for two hours and 45 minutes while the engine was checked for damage and the crew was interview ed by authorities. After the shooting, a manhunt by land and air was conducted by the Mississippi Highway Patrol, state wildlife conservation agents and of ficers from Tate and DeSoto coun ties. The search determined that five men had been at the Arkabutla Dam, near the bridge, when the shooting occurred.
Newspaper Details
Independence Examiner
Independence, Missouri, US
Wed, Sep 13, 1989
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 11 Aug 2026
Other Publications Near Independence, Missouri
Independence Examiner
