Kamgrounds of America (KOA) worker Ruby Howell has been fired for chasing off a black couple with a gun in hand.
Howell, who pulled her pistol in response to Franklin and Jessica Richardson accidentally trespassing on private property owned by Starkville KOA, has been “relieved of her duties” according to a statement sent to Yahoo Lifestyle.
Jessica Richardson/FacebookHowell wielding a gun in her right hand
“Kampgrounds of America is aware of an incident that occurred Sunday, May 26th at the Starkville, Mississippi KOA campground,” KOA’s statement said. “The incident involved a campground employee and two persons seeking to access a lake via the campground’s private property. Unfortunately, the campground employee felt it necessary to display a firearm during the interaction with the two individuals and their dog.”
“Kampgrounds of America does not condone the use of a firearm in any manner on our properties or those owned and operated by our franchisees. The employee involved in the incident has been relieved of her duties at the Starkville KOA…”
Jessica Richardson caught the interaction on camera and posted it to her Facebook page.
“RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL!!,” Richardson prefaced her post with. “Today was a beautiful day so my husband (who’s a vet), our 2 year old dog, and myself, decided to Google a lake to visit and have a picnic. We found a lake located in starkville, ms and decided to visit. Not five mins later a truck pulls up and a white lady screams at us, she then jumps out of her truck with a Gun. And proceeded to point it at the 3 of us, simply because we didnt make reservations.”
According to Richardson, her husband stopped by the office after the interaction to talk to Howell’s husband. The Howells are the property managers of the property. Reservations were not needed in order to picnic at the lake, per Richardson’s post.
According to Yahoo, the couple told the publication that Howell yelled, “Git! Git!” as if they were “stray dogs on her porch.”
The Richardsons were trying to access Oktibbeha County Lake, to enjoy a picnic on Memorial Day weekend. According to Yahoo, the lake belongs to the Oktibbeha School District and the property they wandered onto was private property owned by Starkville KOA.
“This lady literally just pulled a gun because we’re out here and didn’t have reservations. A lake we didn’t know we had to have reservation for…all you had to do was tell us…we would have left. You didn’t have to pull a gun,” Richardson said in her video.