UPDATE: Friday, Feb 17, 2023 · 11:23:41 PM +00:00 · Jessica Sutherland
CNN has more on the story after interviewing Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance.
The first shooting, at the gas station, occurred when the the suspect, Richard Crum, pulled into the parking lot and fired into the car next to his, killing the driver. The passenger was not hurt.
Lance said the suspected gunman went into the store then took off, driving to his ex-wife’s home. Lance said the shooter shot and killed his ex-wife before physically striking her fiancé, who was also in the residence.
[...]
On a small road behind the suspect’s home, authorities found two men who had been shot and killed. One was found on the road and the other was in a vehicle, Lance said.
Another two victims were found shot and killed in a house neighboring the suspect’s home, Lance said. According to Lance, deputies believe the suspect might be related to the victims, a man and woman.
Multiple handguns and a shotgun were found in Crum’s car. No motive is clear at this time, and the six victims—who comprise over 2% of this rural community’s population—have not been identified.
Everytown’s interactive database indicates that Mississippi has both the weakest gun laws and the highest rates of gun deaths in the nation.
UPDATE: Friday, Feb 17, 2023 · 11:08:06 PM +00:00 · Jessica Sutherland
WREG interviewed Ethan Cash, who lives near the PURE gas station and convenience store where the first shooting occurred at about 11AM CT.
“I heard the gunshot from inside my house,” Cash said. “I had just woken up and I look back here, and I see dude walking back here with a shotgun.”
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As some sought shelter, Cash says he ran to the gas station moments after one of the shootings.
“I go up to a truck where a guy got shot at, and I check his pulse and make sure he’s okay — he’s already gone at this point,” Cash said. “I had a moment where I could have saved someone’s life and I missed it, man.”
Authorities have clarified that the location count is four, not three.
Six people are dead after shootings in at least three locations within a tiny town in northwest Mississippi, according to Memphis, Tennessee, NBC affiliate WMC-5. The alleged shooter is in custody.
One took place in a store around 11AM CT, and one man was killed; another, in a home, where a woman was killed and a man was injured, though it’s thought he was hit by an unnamed object rather than gunfire. A third shooting also took place at a residence believed to be that of the suspect’s, and four people were found dead there.
The suspect has not yet been identified, and according to a tweet from Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, he acted alone.
All four locations—including where the suspect was arrested—are in rural Arkabutla, a town in Tate County that Memphis CBS affiliate WREG reports is home to less than 300 residents.
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WREG also reports that a chase ensued after a deputy saw a vehicle fitting the suspect’s car’s description. The suspect led authorities to a residential driveway, where he was apprehended, and the final four victims were discovered, two indoors and two outdoors.
The Washington Post notes that, in a too-familiar scenario for the nation’s youth, an elementary and high school in nearby Coldwater were both placed on lockdown while law enforcement searched for the suspect. Coldwater and Arkabutla are minutes from the Tennessee border, and just 45 miles south of Memphis, according to WREG.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations will be assisting with the investigation, WMC-5 reports.
This story is developing.