Meeting a total stranger somewhere to consummate a transaction is inherently risky, and there are an increasing number of reports of these encounters turning out to be nothing more than attempts to rob innocent civilians.
One such case exploded Monday evening in D’lberville, Mississippi. It involved a man in an arranged meeting with another individual to buy electronic equipment.
The “seller” had other ideas.
Face-to-face transaction immediately went sideways
According to the Biloxi Police Department, the buyer and intended victim met with another individual in a bowling alley parking lot for the transaction. During this process, a third party allegedly appeared and attempted to rob the buyer at gunpoint.
That man was later identified as 25-year-old Tristain Young of Hattiesburg. The intended victim produced a loaded firearm and apparently shot Young in self-defense.
First responders rushed the injured man to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead later that night.
Mississippi man is thankful today that he exercised situational awareness
The other individual involved in the alleged robbery attempt was identified as 26-year-old Ahmad Rasheed Hawthorne of Gulfport. He is currently behind bars on a $500,000 bond charged with accessory before the fact to armed robbery.
Private sales, such as this example, are increasingly common, but with their popularity comes the risk of being set up, as this Mississippi man apparently was. It is unclear whether this specific example was an online transaction, but such encounters are ubiquitous in 2026.
Law enforcement officials encourage buyers and sellers to meet in public and well-lit locations. Some agencies even have specific monitored locations where people may conduct these transactions safely, such as the lobbies of police buildings.
As for one Mississippi man, he is fortunate today that he had proper situational awareness, and even more grateful that he was armed and ready for the unexpected.
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