Eight people killed, suspect in custody
At least eight people, including a deputy sheriff, were killed after shooting in Mississippi on Sunday morning. The suspect has been taken into custody. According to Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain, the shootings occurred at three separate homes in the state’s rural Lincoln County. The area is about 68 miles south of Jackson, the state capital.
The sheriff ’s deputy was responding to a distress call when he was shot and killed by the suspect, according to media reports. The identities of the victims have not been released.
Strain said that investigators were gathering evidence at all three locations and added that charges had not yet been filed against the suspect. The spokesperson said that it would be “premature” to discuss a motive. It was not clear whether the suspect knew his victims before allegedly killing them.
A Lincoln County deputy and seven others were killed overnight in what authorities are calling a shooting spree.
The deputy has been identified as 36-year-old William Durr. Durr was a two year veteran of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and a four year veteran of the Brookhaven Police Department, said Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain.
The shooting spree began at approximately 11:30 pm with a domestic call at 2871 Lee Drive in Bogue Chitto. Four bodies, three females and the deputy, were recovered there, Strain said. The second crime scene was located at 1658 Coopertown Road in Brookhaven. The bodies of two juvenile males were located there.
The third crime scene was located at 312 East Lincoln Road near Super Jack’s, and a male and a female were recovered at that location. The suspect has been identified as 35-year-old Willie Corey Godbolt of 377 Brister Street in Bogue Chitto. He was taken into custody shortly before 7 am near Super Jack’s. The identities of the other victims are pending notification of next of kin. The investigation is on-going and any persons of interest are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, Strain said. A 16-year-old male Godbolt had taken as a hostage is safe, Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said.
Godbolt told The Clarion-ledger that his intention was “suicide by cop.”
“I ain’t fit to live, not after what I done,” Godbolt told The Clarion-ledger after his arrest. Godbolt said he was talking with his wife and members of her family when somebody called authorities.
“I was having a conversation with her stepdaddy and her mama and her, my wife, about me taking my children home,” Godbolt says on the video. “Somebody called the officer, people that didn’t even live at the house. That’s what they do. They intervene.
“They cost him his life,” the suspect said, apparently in reference to the slain deputy. “I’m sorry.” Gov. Phil Bryant released the following statement: “I ask all Mississippians to join Deborah and me in praying for those lost in Lincoln County. Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities. Too often, we lose one of our finest. I thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their hard work. May the peace of the Almighty wash over those hurting after this senseless tragedy.”
Godbolt has a long criminal history, according to arrest records. In 2005 was charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault after he allegedly struck a man with a pistol and took his wallet, jewelry and cash outside a Bogue Chitto residence.
He was arrested for contempt of Justice Court and simple assault by the Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Office in 2016. Godbolt was arrested in 2015 for disorderly conduct/breach of peace and failure to comply with request by Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Office. He was arrested for driving with a suspended license, speeding and no proof of liability insurance by the Mississippi Highway Patrol in 2015. In 2013, he was charged with simple assault by the Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Office.