Six people were killed in a rural Mississippi town on Friday in what officials described as a “series of shootings.”
A suspect is in custody, according to the Tate County Sheriff’s Office, and was identified as 52-year-old Richard Dale Crum of Arkabulta, Mississippi. The sheriff’s office said in a statement Crum was charged with first degree murder and being held without bail at the Tate County Jail.
Gov. Tate Reeves said authorities believe the suspect acted alone and his motive was unknown.
“Please pray for the victims of this tragic violence and their families at this time,” Reeves said in a statement.
The shootings happened in Arkabutla, in Tate County, a small, unincorporated community about 20 miles south of the Mississippi-Tennessee border on the south side of Arkabutla Lake.
Shooting victims were found at four different locations, including outside a store on Arkabutla Road, inside a home on Bend Road and inside a home on Arkabutla Dam Road, according to local TV station WMC. Another man was found injured at one of the shooting locations but did not have gunshot wounds, WMC reported.
Authorities have not identified the suspect or any of the victims.
“I heard the gunshot from inside my house,” Ethan Cash, who lives near the store, told WREG-TV. “I had just woken up and I look back here, and I see dude walking back here with a shotgun.”
Cash said he went to the scene and found one person who had been shot. He said he checked for a pulse but found none.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to assist with the investigation.
Contributing: The Associated Press