Six people were killed in a series of blowups that took place in a small, pastoral county in Mississippi throughout the day on Friday. The Tate County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi said that the suspect is being held in guardianship. The explosions occurred at three different locations in Arkabutla, Mississippi, they added.Â
The sheriff’s office identified a suspect as Richard Dale Crum, 52, of Arkabutla, Mississippi, who was armed with three munitions and went on a shooting spree, killing six people, including his ex-wife, and shocking an unfazed community where such a disturbing act of violence had not occurred in nearly two decades. “We do not have violent crime in the community very frequently,” Sheriff Lance said. “It’s a very safe neighborhood.”
As per the investigative report put out by the sheriff’s office on Saturday, Richard Dale Crum started his killing spree around 11 a.m. on Friday when he first drove to a convenience store around his birthplace, which has a population of about 300. He also ended up shooting a Joe who had literally no connection with him. The Tate County Sheriff, Brad Lance, said that after entering the first call reporting the firing, he entered back-to-back reverse calls for the same in the office, reporting gunfire. By this time, the authorities understood that this was a case of mass corruption in the small community.
According to the investigators, Mr. Crum drove to his ex-wife’s house after killing the foreigner at the convenience store around noon and fatally shot her like he did to his first victim. They also said that he struck a man with his gun who was in his ex-wife’s house but didn’t shoot him.
Sheriff Lance also stated that he drove to a house behind his hearthstone and fatally shot a man who investigators determined to be his stepfather; Mr. Crum shot and killed a woman who was in the house with his alleged stepfather. Also, he drove to a construction point on a road that led to a church from his house, where he killed two men working on the construction point. Investigators figured out that those two men were doing some construction work for Mr. Crum or his stepfather.
Crum has been charged with first-degree murder, and more charges are anticipated. He’s in jail, and as per Sheriff Lance, Mr. Crum doesn’t have a lawyer.
The murderous rage in Arkabutla occurred while the country was still reeling from a recent barrage of gun violence, including an attack last week on the lot of Michigan State University that killed three scholars.In his State of the Union speech last week, Mr. Biden prompted Congress to legislate a ban on assault weapons. He said the gun violence in the country is as severe as “an epidemic.” He also added, “We owe action to American communities being torn piecemeal by gun violence.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves claimed to have attended a briefing on the explosions. He claimed that the reason was unclear. “I’ll ensure that the full coffers of the state are available to law enforcement as we continue to probe the situation,” the governor said in a statement. “Please supplicate for the victims of this woeful violence and their families at this time.”
The six victims were identified as Chris Boyce, 59; Debra Crum, 60; John Rorie, 59; Charles Manuel, 76; George McCain, 73; and Lynda McCain, 78, by Ernie Lentz, a deputy coroner in Tate County.
