Six people were killed by a gunman Friday in a small town in Mississippi, in the southern United States, the local sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Earlier today there was a series of shootings at three different locations in Arkabutla resulting in the death of six people,” the Tate County Sheriff’s Office said on its Facebook page.
The suspect opened fire on the parking lot of a store in Arkabutla, a town of just under 300 inhabitants, and killed a man driving a car, according to the sheriff, quoted by CNN.
He then went to a nearby house and killed his ex-wife, Sheriff Brad Lance told the American channel.
Sheriff’s Office officers also found two other people dead in a nearby home and believe the victims are the suspect’s family.
The killing streak came to a halt after a sheriff’s office officer spotted a car matching the description of the suspect’s and initiated a pursuit. It ended in the driveway of a house where the suspect was apprehended.
Around this house, the agents discovered a deceased person in a car and another on the road, bringing the death toll to six dead.
The sheriff’s office says the suspect has been identified as 52-year-old Richard Dale Crum and has been charged with murder.
“We believe he acted alone,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a tweet, adding that “his motive is not known.” The governor also asked to “pray for the victims of this tragic act of violence, and their families”.
“Enough.” Thundered Joe Biden in the evening, through a statement from the White House.
The US President notes that in 48 days in 2023, “our nation has already suffered from at least 73 mass shootings.”
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” says Joe Biden, “gun violence is an epidemic and Congress must act now.”
Joe Biden had already said “enough” on Tuesday, following a shooting on the campus of Michigan State University.
Despite timid advances in gun control legislation, Joe Biden unsuccessfully called on Congress to restore the nationwide ban on assault rifles, as it existed from 1994 and 2004.
But the Democratic president comes up against the Republicans, who pose as defenders of the constitutional right to possess weapons and who have had a narrow majority since January in the House of Representatives.