Authorities said a suspect was in custody on Saturday after six people were killed in a series of related shootings in eastern Mississippi, according to a report from CBS News citing the Associated Press.
Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said on Facebook that “multiple innocent lives” were lost “due to violence” in the town of West Point, near the Alabama border, and identified the suspect as 24-year-old Daricka M. Moore, adding that there was no threat to the community.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Scott said the victims — family members related to the suspect — were shot at three separate locations late Friday in the rural community of Cedarbluff, west of West Point, and confirmed that one of the victims was a child. “I don’t know what kind of motive you could have to kill a 7-year-old,” the sheriff said.
Moore faces a first-degree murder charge that could be upgraded to capital murder and may also face additional charges, though authorities provided no further details when contacted Saturday morning.