ARKABUTLA, Miss. (AP) — Gunman Officials Say killed 6 people She broke into her ex-wife’s home in Mississippi and shot her in the head after hitting her boyfriend in the head with the butt of a gun, her boyfriend told the Associated Press on Saturday.
The shooting death of 60-year-old Debra Crum in the home she lived in with her boyfriend George Drain in Coldwater, rural northern Mississippi, was linked to an affair with Richard Dale Crum, whom authorities identified as the shooter. It happened just over four years after the divorce. , 52, also from Coldwater. Drane said the murder of his girlfriend, whom he often called his wife, “didn’t feel real” as he lay bleeding and dazed on the ground of their home.
Drane said Richard Crumb came straight from a convenience store in nearby Arcabutla, Mississippi. According to Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance, Crumb shot Chris Eugene Boyce, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of an outdoor pickup truck. He said he found the bodies of two handymen shot dead outside the house, and the bodies of his stepfather and stepfather’s sister in the house next door.
Drane hadn’t seen Richard Crumb in years until he broke down and kicked the door of the house he shared with Debra Crumb. When Crum left the convenience store, he said he ran straight to Drain’s house and ran to the porch to arrest him. handgun, officials said.
Drane said he fought Crumb and was hit in the head, and Crumb shot his ex-wife after telling Drane not to make noise or move. If you don’t, he will be killed too. Drain said Crumb went outside to get the second shell.
“I couldn’t get up,” Drain said. “He reloaded and ran back into the house and shot her in the head at point-blank range, killing her instantly. Between the living room and the kitchen.”
Investigators were looking for clues on Saturday’s motive for the assault in Alcabutla, a town of 285 people about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Memphis.
“That’s the scary part, because I can’t say what caused this,” Lance said in an interview Friday.
The United States is off to a deadly start to 2023. genocide In three weeks in January, according to the Associated Press/USA Today database. A genocide is defined as four or more deaths, excluding the perpetrator.
There are many mass shootings, like Monday, where fewer people have been killed. Shooting at Michigan State University Three people were killed and five injured.
Crumb was jailed on one count of murder against Boyce, 59, who was first murdered outside a convenience store in Lakeland, Florida. Boyce’s brother was in the truck with him at the time and fled, sheriffs said. Lance added that Crumb chased his brother through the woods before escaping unharmed.
In addition to Crumb’s ex-wife, authorities have identified the other murdered as 76-year-old Charles Manuel. John Rowley, 59 years old. George McCain, 73 years old. and Linda McCain, 78. Drane said he was unaware of the initial shooting when Crumb broke into his home.
Ashley McKinney, 38, from Memphis, Tennessee, remembered when the two dated Debra Crum’s son Sid Furniss when they were teenagers and Debra Crum started dating Richard Dale Crum. All was well at first, but Richard Dale’s signs of mental illness in his crumbs became apparent, causing Hong Kong action star Jackie to suddenly imitate his Chen moves. Sometimes he even carried a sword.
“He was never right,” said McKinney, who remains a friend of the family.
She said Debra Crumb had hoped a psychiatric facility would fix him. Dale Crumb didn’t know what to do, so he asked McKinney to stay with him.
According to her, Richard Dale Crum did odd jobs, mostly chopping wood. McKinney said he told Debra Crumb that he was going to leave her once he qualified for her disability. And that’s exactly what happened, McKinney said.
Debra Crum filed for divorce in Tate County in September 2018, and a judge granted the divorce just over two months later, according to online court records. Her complaint and her property settlement agreement were not available online Saturday, though the lawsuit summary listed the reasons as irreconcilable differences.
According to Dorane, the couple lived separately for five or six years before divorcing. Dorane said he had a stroke in October and the two were in a physical therapy session on Friday morning.
Drain said he hadn’t seen Crumb in seven or eight years.
“I thought it was an accidental act. I don’t know the rest,” Dorane said. “He left us alone. We left him alone.”
Crumb and his stepfather lived on seven acres of wooded land owned by his stepfather on the west side of Lake Alcabutla, north of Alcabutla. On this land he has 285 inhabitants. His pastor, JQ Wooten, Sr., the pastor of nearby Ella Green Missionary Baptist Church, said he shook hands with Crumb two weeks ago during the conversation.
Wooten said his stepfather, McCain, will oversee problems with the church’s buildings and grounds so that they can be resolved. He said Crumb was a nice guy, but he “looked a little weird.” Because at least once every few months he sat in a black SUV and listened to country music.
“It’s beyond description and imagination,” he said of the shooting.
In the lobby of the sheriff’s office, Norma Washington told the Associated Press that Boyce was her nephew. I said it was being cleaned up.
It was unclear whether Crumb knew either of the brothers.
The sheriff, who has lived in the area all his life and has worked in law enforcement for 25 years, said he can’t remember ever having a problem with Crumb.
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Hannah reported from Topeka, Kansas. Also contributing was Heather Hollingsworth of the Kansas Mission. Emily Wagster Pettus from Jackson, Mississippi. Jeff Amy from Atlanta. Russ Bynum from Savannah, Georgia and Heather Hollingsworth from Mission, Kansas.