PICTURED: Mississippi man, 52, accused of mass killing spree seen toting gun at convenience store

The man believed to be responsible for a mass killing spree which saw six people shot dead in three different locations in a rural Mississippi town has been identified.

Richard Dale Crum, 52, has been charged with first degree murder in connection to the deranged killing spree which took place at half past twelve on Friday afternoon. 

It remains unclear what the motive behind the heartless mass shootings is in the tiny town near Memphis, Tennessee, of 285 people in which residents say ‘everyone knows everyone.’

Local reports have claimed that some of the victims were known to Crum, one being his ex-wife. 

Richard Dale Crum, 52, has been charged with first degree murder in connection to the deranged killing spree which took place at half past twelve on Friday afternoon

‘Richard Dale Crum, 52, of Arkabulta was arrested this afternoon and charged with First Degree Murder in connection with this case,’ the Tate County Sheriff’s office posted to Facebook. 

‘Additional charges, for each of the other victims, will be filed in the coming days. Crum is being held without bond in the Tate County Jail.’

The statement adds that there had been a series of shootings at three different locations in Arkabutla, resulting in the deaths of six people.

‘We are in the very early stages of the investigation so we can only release a limited amount of information. What we do want the community to know is that the suspect is in custody.’

A woman wrote on a thread about the shootings that Crum is her uncle’s stepson.

‘We still aren’t sure why he went on a killing spree. Praying for the other families involved,’ she wrote of the accusations.

Meanwhile, a mother wrote of her own experience of the shooting, speaking to how lucky she had been that her son stayed home sick from school.

‘I kept Lucas home from school today because he was congested really bad,’ she wrote. 

‘At about 11.45 this morning, I got a text from the school saying it was locked down due to an active shooter in the Arkabutla area which isn’t far from the school.

‘This would have been about the time I would have left to go pick him up to take him to therapy had he gone to school.’

She goes on to say that the lockdown was lifted less than 15 minutes later and said law enforcement had control of the situation. 

‘I would have never thought something like this would be what had happened. Please pray for the families of the victims, our county, and our law enforcement.’

Speaking to WREG, Sheriff Brad Lance said authorities believe the 52-year-old ‘went into a store and shot a man, then went to a house nearby on Bend Road and shot a woman.’

Speaking to actionnews5.com the alleged husband of the woman murdered said that he and his wife had just come home from the doctors. 

‘He busted into the house through the front door and I wrestled with him and I lost as you can see, but my wife lost more,’ he said. 

‘I didn’t recognize him, it’s a small community, everybody knows everybody, I know who he is now.’

The broadcaster also reported that some of the victims were related to the shooter, one being his ex-wife.  

Lance told the broadcaster that Crum ‘also went to a home on Arkabutla Dam Road and shot and killed two people there.’

He was later arrested after a chase ended in the driveway of a home where two more people were found deceased, one in a vehicle and the other in the road, WREG reported.

A man who witnessed a shooting at a convenience store on Arkabutla Road, Ethan Cash, told WREG: ‘I heard the gunshot from inside my house. I had just woken up and I look back here, and I see dude walking back here with a shotgun.’

‘I go up to a truck where a guy got shot at, and I check his pulse and make sure he’s okay he’s already gone at this point,’ Cash said. 

‘I had a moment where I could have saved someone’s life and I missed it, man.’ 

Crum was booked into the Tate County Jail in Senatobia, Mississippi, at 3.28 pm on Friday, close to three hours after the killing spree took place. 

Arkabutla resident April Wade described the community to ABC 24 as a place where no one is a stranger. 

‘But if you don’t [know somebody], you know somebody who knows somebody.’

‘I think it’s crazy,’ Wade said to the television station. ‘You do not expect something like that to happen so close to home.’

Authorities believe the 52-year-old ‘went into a store and shot a man, then went to a house nearby on Bend Road and shot a woman’

Police said Crum ‘also went to a home on Arkabutla Dam Road and shot and killed two people there’

He was later arrested after a chase ended in the driveway of a home where two more people were found deceased, one in a vehicle and the other in the road

Crum was booked into the Tate County Jail in Senatobia, Mississippi, at 3.28 pm on Friday, close to three hours after the killing spree took place

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter that he had been ‘briefed on the series of shootings in Tate County.’

According to Reeves, the ‘individual responsible has been taken into custody alive.’

‘At this time we believe he acted alone. His motive is not yet known.’

Six people were shot dead in the rural Mississippi town after a man believed to be Crum went on a shooting spree.

Authorities in Tate County arrested a man in connection with the incidents after spotting him inside a vehicle on Arkabutla Dam Road where the shootings took place.

Police said that the suspect shot a man outside the Express Mart on Arkabutla Road at 12.30pm, with a worker at the shop telling DailyMail.com that she and colleagues ‘ran and hid.’

‘No one in the store was hurt, the man was shot outside. He came in here with a gun and we all ran and hid. I don’t know who he was.’

The gunman then reportedly traveled 3.8miles to Bend Road where he shot and killed a woman inside a property. 

Her husband was also injured during the incident, but it is unclear if he was shot by the gunman. 

The suspect then traveled to a home on Arkabutla Dam Road and shot two people dead inside the property, before his vehicle was spotted by authorities. 

Tate County Sheriff Deputies tried to apprehend the shooter, but failed to stop him leading to a car chase. 

Sheriff Brad Lance said that the shooter lived on Arkabutla Dam Road and identified Crum on Friday afternoon in connection with the deranged mass shooting

The gunman then reportedly traveled 3.8miles to Bend Road where he shot and killed a woman inside a property

Authorities said they are currently unaware of the motive behind the shooting or if those killed were known to each other 

The shooter pulled into the driveway of a home, and was arrested by cops before they discovered another person dead in a car and a sixth lying in the roadway.

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office told DailyMail.com following the incident that there is ‘no longer a threat’ to the community. 

‘We have detained a suspect in our jail. We cannot confirm anything else as it is an active investigation.’

Authorities said they are currently unaware of the motive behind the shooting or if those killed were known to each other.