The shooter was charged after he killed his ex-wife and five others in a mass shooting in Mississippi on Friday, according to the county sheriff and witnesses.
The bloodshed took place at three locations in Arkabutla, a rural village of less than 300 in Tate County in northern Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
Richard Dale Crum, 51, has been charged with first-degree murder, Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance told reporters.
President Joe Biden condemned the shooting and called on Congress to implement gun controls, including background checks, assault weapons bans, and gun possession mandates.
“Jill and I mourn the six who died in today’s violence in Tate County, Mississippi, along with too many Americans,” Biden said in a statement.
Investigators have yet to establish a motive, but Lance said they would begin investigating the suspect’s relationship with his ex-wife.
Authorities first received a call about a shooting at a store near a gas station, and before deputies arrived, they received another call about a second shooting at a nearby home, Lance said.
A man was shot in the store. According to Lance, a woman was found dead in the house, who later turned out to be Krum’s ex-wife.
According to Lance, the police found the suspect in the driveway to another house and arrested him without a fight. It turned out to be Krum’s house, and the police found four more bodies: two lay behind the house and two on the street.
The suspect may have family ties to the victims behind the house. The rest turned out to be laborers working on site, the sheriff continued.
“We don’t have a lot of violent crime here. It’s shocking,” Lance said.
Police recovered a shotgun and two handguns from the suspect.
The man, who witnessed some of the events at the store, said he pulled out a gun and was about to shoot the suspect, who was armed with a shotgun but held his fire.
Instead, eyewitness Ethan Cash told Reuters he would typically shoot a man in his car outside the store and find that he had no pulse and was unresponsive.
Cash, 18, said he then pointed the gun at another man, who turned out to be the victim’s brother.
“He said, ‘Dude, they just shot my brother,'” said Mr. Cash. “And I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m so sorry.'”
Mr. Cash said he saw the suspect and wanted to open fire.
“I wanted to shoot the man as he was leaving, but I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t want to hurt anyone, so I let the officers do it. Either way, it’s their job,” he said.
Mr. Cash predicted that the shooting would have a major impact on the city.
“It’s completely confusing when this happens,” he said, “especially when you hear that six or seven people have been killed and no one knows why.”
Additional coverage from Reuters.
Source: I News
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