A suspect is in custody in the US state of Mississippi after eight people, including a sheriff’s deputy, were killed in a shooting spree on Saturday night.
According to authorities, the shootings occurred at three separate homes in the rural area of Lincoln County. The suspect, Willie Corey Godbolt, was arrested early Sunday after police released photos of him to the media.
The shootings reportedly started around 11:30 p.m. at an address in Bogue Chitto, where the deputy and three women were found dead. Another two bodies were found in nearby Brookhaven, and a further two were found at a third crime scene.
The motivation for the shootings is currently unclear, but footage captured of Goodbolt as he was handcuffed by officers seems to indicate some kind of custody battle.
“I was having a conversation with her stepdaddy and her mama and her, my wife, about me taking my children home,” he is heard saying 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. I’m sorry.”
The suspect also indicated that he had not intended to be taken alive. “My intentions was to have God kill me. I ran out of bullets,” he said. “Suicide by cop was my intention.”
Authorities are waiting on notifications being sent to the victims’ next of kin.
Source: CNN.
Photo: AP.
