Arkabutla: Six people were fatally shot Friday (Feb. 17) in multiple locations in a small town in rural Mississippi near the Tennessee state line, and authorities blamed a lone suspect who was arrested. and was charged with murder. Bailey Martin, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, confirmed the killings in Arkabutla in Tate County to The Associated Press.
County Sheriff Brad Lance told local news outlets that the murders took place at a convenience store and two homes. Trucks marked the sheriff’s office and Tate County Search and Rescue were parked outside the store, where officers used yellow tape to cordon off the building.
Katherine King, an administrative employee with the sheriff’s department, said Richard Dale Crum, 52, was jailed on one count of murder. she said that order was happening held without bond And investigators may file further charges. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The office of Gov. Tate Reeves said he was briefed about the shooting. “At this time, we believe he acted alone,” Reeves said in a statement. “His motive is not yet known.”
Ethan Cash, who lives near the store, told WREG-TV, “I heard shots fired from inside my house.” “I just woke up and I look back here, and I see the dude with the gun walking back here.” Cash said he went to the scene and found a man who had been shot. He said he checked for a pulse but found none.
An elementary school and a high school in nearby Coldwater both closed while the search for the suspect is underway, according to the Coldwater Elementary School Facebook page. Shortly afterwards, a second post on the page stated that the lockdown had been lifted and that “all students and staff are safe.”
April Wade, who lives in Arkabutla and raised in cold waterSaid that both are small communities where most people know each other, “but if you don’t know, you know someone who knows someone.”
Speaking at a local tire store that afternoon, Wade said she and her husband were aware of the shootings but had not heard the names of the suspects or victims. “I think it’s crazy,” Wade said. “You don’t expect something like this to happen so close to home.”
This is the first mass killing by shooting in the US since January 23, according to the Associated Press/USA Today database, which saw the last of six in a three-week period. It defines a mass murder as the death of four or more people, not involving the perpetrator.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents were providing assistance to the sheriff’s department and state investigators. Archbutala is located approximately 50 kilometers south of Memphis, Tennessee, and is home to 285 residents as of the 2020 census.