Eight people were killed in a shootout in a rural area of ​​Mississippi, including the Lincoln County Sheriff’s “number two,” local authorities said Tuesday. They arrested a suspect who said he was seeking to “commit suicide by firing one police”.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation confirmed the eight deaths and said they occurred in three separate homes Saturday night in Brookhaven and Bogue Chitto, but it is unknown at this time whether the suspect, identified as Willie Cory Godbolt, knew in advance To the victims.
County Sheriff Steve Rushing told local daily The Daily Leader that the details of the incident are still unknown, but his “number two” came to town after receiving a call from the owner of the house. He asked for help to drive Godbolt out of there.
The deputy police and three other people were killed in that house and Godbolt killed two other people in another house, according to Rushing, who did not give details of the two remaining victims.
Although authorities have not yet reported on the possible reasons for the attacker, Godbolt himself gave his version of the facts in an interview with local newspaper The Clarion Ledger.
“I’m not worth living, not after what I’ve done,” Godbolt said in the interview, videotaped while the local police kept him handcuffed and seated on the floor.
The suspect claimed that he was talking to his wife and family members about family matters when “someone called” the county deputy waiter, which “cost his life” to the law agent, and then Godbolt trusted him They will kill him too.
“My intention was for God to kill me, because I ran out of bullets. My intention was suicide by shooting a policeman,” said Godbolt, 35.
The suspect, who during the incident also temporarily took a 16-year-old hostage, has a long criminal record and has been charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault and unlicensed driving, among other crimes, according to The Associated Press. Daily Leader.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant regretted the shooting in a statement that “every day, the men and women who wear the badge make sacrifices to protect their communities,” and “too often “Die” some of the best.