The person thought to be behind a shooting spree that left six people dead in three separate sites in a small town in rural Mississippi has been identified.
The 52-year-old Richard Dale Crum has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the bizarre killing spree that occurred at 12:00 on Friday afternoon.
The reason for the merciless mass killings in the 285-person little hamlet outside of Memphis, Tennessee, where inhabitants claim “everyone knows everyone,” is still a mystery.
It’s assumed that Crum knew several of the victims, including his ex-wife.
According to a Facebook post by the Tate County Sheriff’s office, Richard Dale Crum, 52, of Arkabulta, was detained this afternoon and charged with First Degree Murder in connection with this case.
“Further charges will be brought against each of the other victims in the next days.” Crum is being detained at the Tate County Prison without posting bail.
Six persons were killed in a sequence of gunshots that took place at three distinct Arkabutla sites, according to the statement.
We can only provide a little amount of information at this time since the inquiry is still in its very early phases. The community should know that the culprit is in jail, however.
Crum is the stepson of a lady who claimed to be Crum on a post regarding the shootings.
We still don’t know why he committed such a murderous spree. In response to the claims, she stated, “Praying for the other families affected.”
As everything was going on, a mother shared her personal account of the shooting and expressed gratitude that her kid missed school due to an illness.
She wrote, “I kept Lucas home from school today since he was terribly congested.”
‘This morning at 11:45, I received a text from the school informing me that it had been shut down due to an active shooter in the nearby Arkabutla neighborhood.
If he had gone to school, I would have left at around this time to pick him up and brought him to therapy.
She continues by saying that less than 15 minutes later, the lockdown was lifted and that law enforcement had the situation under control.
“I never would have imagined that what had transpired would be this. Please offer prayers for the victims’ families, our county, and the law police.
Sheriff Brad Lance told WREG that the 52-year-old “went into a business and shot a male, then proceeded to a residence close on Bend Road and shot a lady,” according to the authorities.
The alleged victim’s husband told actionnews5.com that he and his wife had just returned home from the doctor.
He said, “He broke into the home via the front door, and I struggled with him and I lost, as you can see, but my wife lost more.”
I didn’t recognize him, but because we live in a tiny town, I now identify him.
Also, according to the broadcaster, one of the victims was the shooter’s ex-wife.
According to the New York Times, the six persons were identified by Ernie Lentz, a deputy coroner in Tate County.
Chris Boyce, Debra Crum, John Rorie, Charles Manuel, George McCain, and Lynda McCain were recognized by Lentz as being 59, 60, 60, 59, 76, 73, and 78 years old respectively.
Crum “also proceeded to a residence on Arkabutla Dam Road and shot and murdered two persons there,” Lance told the station.
After a pursuit that ended in the driveway of a house where two additional bodies were discovered, one in a car and the other on the road, he was subsequently taken into custody, according to WREG.
Ethan Cash, a witness to the incident at the Arkabutla Road convenience store, told WREG, “I heard the gunfire from inside my home.” I barely woke up when I saw a man going back this way with a shotgun.
At a vehicle where a man had been shot, Cash said, “I walk up to the truck and check his pulse and make sure he’s alright, but he’s already gone at this time.”
“Well, I lost a chance when I might have saved someone’s life.”
Over three hours after the killing spree began on Friday, at 3:28 p.m., Crum was arrested and sent to the Tate County Prison in Senatobia, Mississippi.
No one is a stranger here, according to April Wade, an Arkabutla resident who spoke to ABC 24 about the neighborhood.
Yet even if you don’t know someone, you probably know someone who does.
To the television station, Wade reportedly remarked, “I think it’s weird.” “You don’t expect that to happen so close to home,” the saying goes.
‘Briefed on the string of shootings in Tate County,’ Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on Twitter.
The “responsible person has been brought into custody alive,” claims Reeves.
We now think he acted alone. His motivation is still unknown.
A man thought to be Crum went on a shooting rampage that resulted in the deaths of six persons in the little hamlet in rural Mississippi.
After seeing him inside a car on Arkabutla Dam Road, the scene of the gunshots, authorities in Tate County apprehended a guy in connection with the crimes.
About 12.30 p.m., according to police, a man was shot outside the Express Store on Arkabutla Road. A store employee told DailyMail.com that she and her coworkers “run and hid.”
No one was wounded inside the business; the guy was shot outside. We all hid once he entered the room brandishing a pistol. I had no idea who he was.
After that, the shooter allegedly proceeded 3.8 miles to Bend Road, where he fatally shot a lady who was inside a building.
While it is unknown whether her spouse was shot by the shooter, he was also hurt during the event.
The perpetrator then drove to a house on Arkabutla Dam Road and killed two persons there before his car was discovered by law enforcement.
A vehicle pursuit ensued as Tate County Sheriff Officers attempted to stop the gunman but were unsuccessful.
Before they found a second victim dead in a vehicle and a sixth laying in the road, the gunman turned into a driveway and was apprehended by police.
After the event, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office informed DailyMail.com that there is “no longer a danger” to the neighborhood.
We have a suspect in custody here at the prison. Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to confirm anything more.
Police said that they do not presently know what motivated the shooting or if the victims knew one another.
»According to sources, 52-year-old Mississippi man faces six murder charges«