Mississippi shooting: Gunman kills six including ex-wife and stepfather in small rural town
A gunman has killed six people, including his ex-wife and stepfather, in a mass shooting in Mississippi.
The killings took place at multiple locations in Arkabutla, Tate County, a small rural town near the state border with Tennessee.
Suspect Richard Dale Crum, armed with a shotgun and two handguns, killed a man in the driver’s seat of his truck, which was parked outside a shop.
He then moved on to a nearby home, where he fatally shot his ex-wife and wounded her current husband.
Finally, the 52-year-old went to the area of his own home, where police found the bodies of his stepfather and stepfather’s sister in a neighbouring house.
The bodies of two workmen were also discovered, one dead in a car and another in the road.
Crum was arrested at the scene.
The incident took place across multiple locations, one of which was outside a shop
‘That’s the scary part’
Initially, Crum was arrested for killing 59-year-old Chris Eugene Boyce in his truck.
The other victims have been identified as Debra Crum, 60; Charles Manuel, 76; John Rorie, 59; George McCain, 78; and Lynda McCain, 78.
“Everybody has crime, and from time to time we have violent crime, but certainly nothing of this magnitude,” Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance said.
“Without being able to say what triggered this, that’s the scary part.”
Witness Ethan Cash told television network WREG-TV, that he checked for the pulse of Mr Boyce after hearing a gunshot from inside his house.
Police next to the vehicle of one of the victims
‘This has been something else’
Norma Washington told The Associated Press that Mr Boyce was her nephew. She said he and his brother, Doug, who escaped the scene unharmed, had been cleaning up a property they inherited from their deceased uncle.
“I lost my brother, and now this one,” Ms Washington said. “This has been something else.”
It was unclear whether Crum knew either of the brothers.
Arkabutla lies about 30 miles (50km) south of Memphis, Tennessee, and is home to 285 residents. It is located near Arkabutla Lake, a reservoir that is a popular fishing and recreational destination.
One resident, April Wade, said the community is so small that most people know each other.
“I think it’s crazy,” she said. “You do not expect something like that to happen so close to home.”
President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were mourning the six victims and praying for the survivors. He urged Congress to act on gun law reforms to address what he called “an epidemic” of gun violence.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
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In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max
The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.
In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.
File pic: iStock
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.
“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.
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