On Friday (February 17, 2023) the sheriff of a small rural community in northern Mississippi reported that a lone gunman had killed six people there, including his ex-wife and stepfather.
Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance said that at around 11 a.m., 52-year-old Richard Dale Crum opened fire with a shotgun and two handguns killing a man sitting in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck parked outside a convenience store in Arkabutla, (as per the reports of CNN.com).
While investigating the murder, deputies received word of another shooting a few miles away. They arrived at a house and discovered a dead woman later identified by the sheriff as Crum’s ex-wife and her wounded current husband.
According to Lance, Crum was arrested by sheriff’s deputies outside his own residence. Shot dead were two handymen who had been working behind the house one on the road and the other in an SUV. Crum’s stepfather and stepmother’s sister were found dead in a neighbor’s house.
In an interview, Lance said:
Everyone has crime and from time to time we have violent crime, but certainly nothing of this magnitude. The scary part is that we don’t know what set this off.
Do you know that this week more mishappening done in other places you can read about it in our post given below:
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It was unclear right away if Crum had a lawyer who could represent him. Chris Eugene Boyce who was shot outside the store was the initial murder suspect. The sheriff claims that Boyce’s brother who was also in the truck ran away.
Lance elaborated by saying that Crum gave chase to the brother through the woods, but the latter managed to get away unscathed. Others who lost their lives have been named by Debra Crum, Charles Manuel, John Rorie, George McCain and Lynda McCain.
Ethan Cash, a local resident who lives in close proximity to the store, reported hearing a gunshot from inside his own home. Cash said:
I had just woken up and looked back here and saw a dude walking back here with a shotgun. The one person who had been shot was the only one he found when he arrived at the scene. There was no sign of life when he felt for a pulse.
Read our most recent covers if you are interested in reading more murder-related posts:
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Who will Investigate this Case?
The alleged shooter had been taken into custody. Bailey C. Martin, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation confirmed the killings. When asked for further comment, Ms. Martin referred reporters to the Tate County Sheriff’s Office and said only that the bureau was assisting with the investigation.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives New Orleans Field Division is also assisting, the agency said on Twitter and the Tweet is provided below:
BREAKING: .@ATFNewOrleans Special Agents are providing assistance in response to a shooting incident in Tate County, Miss. Follow Tate Co. Sheriff’s Office and Mississippi Bureau of Investigations for updates. pic.twitter.com/OvzJb6dsOO
— ATF New Orleans (@ATFNewOrleans) February 17, 2023
As more information becomes available to us about this case, we will be sure to share it with you. You can follow our Twitter account to stay up-to-date on our most recent coverage and for more breaking news.
