Michael Dowda, a Parchman escapee, is lose, armed and dangerous. His odyssey reminds me of a time many years ago when I was a student at Bells Ferry Elementary School. It was a time when our school was locked down because of an escaped prisoner.
The prisoner was getting dental work done and overpowered the guard. He stole his gun and ran to the house behind the clinic. There, a man opened the door and the prisoner shot him in the face, killing him.
Our community promptly went into lockdown as the police began their manhunt.
If I had looked out the windows, I would have seen policemen guarding the school. When the buses finally did roll, we were followed home by patrol cars. Bloodhounds went down the road behind our house. The criminal, who stayed fairly close to where the murder occurred, tried to break into my dad’s gas station’s bathroom. And he was finally captured in a dumpster behind a local shoe store.
I think we held our breath for 24 hours.
I was probably eight. Yet, I remember it like yesterday. Hopefully Dowda will be recaptured soon — especially before anyone suffers the same fate as the man who was shot that fateful day in Marietta, Georgia.
UPDATE: Dowda has been captured in Macon, Georgia. Thankfully.