6 KILLED IN MISSISSIPPI, SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

A 52-year-old man armed with three guns went on a shooting rampage in a rural Mississippi county on Friday, killing six people, including his ex-wife, and shocking a community that had not seen such mass violence in more than two decades, authorities said.

The man, Richard Dale Crum, of Arkabutla, Miss., who was in custody by Friday afternoon, began his killing spree around 11 a.m. when he drove to a convenience store in his hometown, which has about 290 residents, and fatally shot a man who appeared to have no connection to him, said Brad Lance, the Tate County sheriff.

“Literally within minutes of getting that call, another call comes in,” Lance said in an interview.

By early afternoon, deputies in Arkabutla, an unicorporated community about 45 miles south of Memphis, Tenn., realized they were dealing with multiple killings, several crime scenes and questions about what had possibly driven a local resident to fatally shoot six people, including some he apparently didn’t know.

After Crum shot a man at the convenience store, Lance said, investigators believe he drove to the home of his ex-wife and fatally shot her. Crum also used a gun to strike a man who was in his ex-wife’s home, but did not shoot him, the sheriff added.

Crum then drove to the residence behind his house, Lance said, and fatally shot a man who investigators believe is his stepfather and a woman who was also in the home at the time.

Then, on a road near Crum’s house, he fatally shot two men who investigators believe may have been doing some kind of construction work for either his stepfather or Crum, Lance said.

Crum was charged with one count of first-degree murder, and more charges are expected in the coming days, Lance said, adding that he was in jail. The names of the victims were not immediately released. It was not clear if Crum had a lawyer.