While the Thanksgiving holiday and the annual Egg Bowl rivalry game between the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University made for a busy weekend in Oxford, no major or fatal wrecks were reported in Oxford and Lafayette County.

“It was a pretty average football weekend,” said Oxford Police Department Maj. Jeff McCutchen this morning. “Crowds were good. It seemed like a large ballgame crowd and a large amount of traffic.”

OPD officers investigated 27 wrecks and issued 87 traffic tickets from Thursday-Sunday. They made 17 arrests for public drunkenness, five for DUI and five for disorderly conduct.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol concluded its Thanksgiving enforcement period on Sunday that began on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

In Troop E, which includes Lafayette County, troopers made 13 arrests for people driving under the influence — the highest number of DUI arrests in Mississippi over the weekend. They investigated 13 wrecks that resulted in five injuries. Alcohol was attributed as a factor in one wreck.

Troopers issued 779 citations in Troop E with 17 for seat belt violations and five for child seat violations.

Statewide, troopers made 67 DUI arrests and investigated 171 wrecks, which resulted in two fatalities.

On Thursday, at about 1:17 a.m., Carnell Gardner, 43, of Itta Bena, was killed in Leflore County when he went off the road, re-entered and crossed the center line and collided with a 2016 Freightliner. On Sunday at 9:06 a.m., Amy Trau, 60, of Avon, Illinois, was killed after the vehicle she was a passenger in went off U.S. 45 in Wayne County and overturned for unknown reasons.

There were no fatal wrecks reported in Lafayette County over the holiday weekend.

While MHP troopers spent a good amount of time on local highways looking for distracted or drunk drivers, the MHP troopers and its SWAT team were also busy off road. On Friday, the SWAT team responded to Grenada at the request of the Grenada Police Department for assistance concerning a hostage situation. Later that same day, troopers responded to Hattiesburg at the request of the Hattiesburg Police Department for assistance concerning an officer involved in a shooting.