29 May, 2017
A MS deputy sheriff was among eight people shot and killed Saturday and a suspect in the murders is in custody, The Daily Leader reports.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, the man, Willie Godbolt, confessed to the killings as he was arrested Sunday morning.
"Agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation with Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies and District Attorney are investigating the shooting deaths of eight people, including a Lincoln County deputy".
Authorities say the 35-year-old Godbolt shot and killed people at three locations. The names of the deputy sheriff and other victims have not been released.
Godbolt said he did not intend for police to capture him alive.
He tells a reporter he had been arguing with relatives about "taking my children home" before they called the police on him.
The man suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and seven others in rural MS is listed in good condition at a hospital.
"Suicide by cop was my intention", he says in the video. "Not after what I've done".
A Lincoln County sheriff's deputy was among the eight killed. He said it also not clear that the suspect was already known to the deceased.
Vincent Mitchell, Godbolt's stepfather-in-law, told The Associated Press the shooting "all stemmed from domestic violence".
Mitchell said he escaped along with Godbolt's wife, but three others were killed: his wife, her sister and one of the wife's daughters.
He said he was "sorry" and "ain't fit to live, not after what I done".
"I'm devastated", Mr Mitchell said. "Then he reached in his back pocket and grabbed a gun", Mitchell said.
A 16-year-old, believed to have been taken hostage by the suspect, was safe, The Daily Leader reported.
Bryant further added that the sacrifice made by law enforcement personnel to safeguard the civilians would not go in vain.
