As Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack stood talking with residents on North First Avenue Saturday night, a half dozen shots rang out through the neighborhood. It was Mack’s first occasion to see and hear for himself incidents related to the gang problem in Laurel.

“I’ve lived in Boston; Dayton, Ohio; and Jackson,” said Mack. “What I witnessed Saturday night on First Avenue reminded me of those places, and I don’t want our city to turn into those. We are going to begin to fight back for our neighborhoods and city before it’s too late.”

The recent outbreak of shooting incidents in northeastern and south Laurel over the weekend has forced Mack and Laurel Police Department Chief Marvin Lindsey to increase police attention to this growing problem many blame on people who’ve recently moved into the Laurel and Jones County area since Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita decimated much of the Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas coasts late last year. And although Mack said the vast majority of people who have made Laurel and Jones County their home since the storms are good, law-abiding people, a small percentage of thugs has come north as well.

“This is a small number of people who are trying to get things started in Laurel, and we won’t stand for it,” said Mack Tuesday. “I was there. I was standing with citizens of Laurel when on two separate occasions we heard gunfire.”

Two men were initially arrested for the shooting incidents that occurred Saturday night and early Sunday morning, but they were released Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities at the Laurel Police Department. Another suspect is currently being sought for questioning.

LPD Lt. Layne Bounds, a shift commander, made an appearance in front of the Laurel City Council Tuesday to inform members of the problem facing officers and the city.

“There’s no doubt we’ve got a gang problem,” said Bounds later. “I believe there are two reasons why we’re seeing this now.”

Bounds said tensions have been building among local gangs that are said to number about a dozen different groups aligned with either the nationally known Bloods or Crips. He backed up Mack’s view that gang members from out of the area, mainly from other states, have come to Laurel and are trying to mobilize local gangs that for the most part were fairly low-key until recently.

“We have arrested several people from Louisiana and Texas who have very violent pasts and who are closely associated with gangs from their areas,” Bounds said. “These people are coming in here and stirring up the pot.”

The time of year, according to Bounds, also plays a part with rising temperatures coinciding with rising tempers. These two factors, and many others such as control of drug trafficking and turf, are stretching the LPD thin in terms of manpower. Lindsey said Tuesday he is going to hire six new officers, and Mack wants him to look for qualified candidates who are already certified officers looking to transfer from other departments and agencies.

“It’s like a division one school recruiting junior college players to come in and make an immediate impact,” said Mack, in reference to hiring experienced officers. “We need to bolster the LPD now with experienced officers, not wait months for rookies to get out of the police academy.”

LPD Patrol Division Commander Capt. Billy Chandler said some shifts are so low on manpower and are working so much overtime that officers are tired, both mentally and physically. At times, Chandler has had to come out himself to support a shift when things got really busy.

“I’ve got some guys who’ve accumulated 120 to 140 hours of work in a two-week period,” Chandler said. “They are tired, and when officers get tired, they are prone to mistakes. Safety becomes a big issue.”

Bounds said prior to Saturday’s shooting incidents, the men on his shift were tied up on several calls that left Laurel exposed due to the lack of police coverage.

“We had an 18-wheeler wreck involving a drunk driver that tied up five officers,” said Bounds. “Another officer was on another call, and that left just one officer on the streets trying to cover whatever else came up. Then we got the shooting calls.”