ARKABUTLA, Mississippi — A Lakeland man has been identified as a victim in the days following after a gunman killed a total of six people, including his ex-wife and stepfather, at different locations in northern Mississippi.
Armed with a shotgun and two handguns, 52-year-old Richard Dale Crum, opened fire at about 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, and killed a man in the driver's seat of a pickup truck parked outside a convenience store in Arkabutla, Mississippi, Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance said.
The driver, later identified as 59-year-old Chris Eugene Boyce, had a Florida driver's license in his wallet, according to the sheriff.
Deputy Tate County Coroner Ernie Lentz explained Boyce was a Lakeland resident while also identifying the others killed as Debra Crum, 60; Charles Manuel, 76; John Rorie, 59; George McCain, 73; and Lynda McCain, 78.
Boyce's brother was in the truck with him and ran away when Crum was shooting, Lane said. He reportedly was able to escape unharmed.
The gunman was later arrested outside his own home after he killed the five others.
“Everybody has crime, and from time to time we have violent crime, but certainly nothing of this magnitude,” Lane said in an interview. “Without being able to say what triggered this, that’s the scary part.”
The shootings are the first mass killing in the U.S. since Jan. 23, which saw the last of six in a three-week period, according to an Associated Press/USA Today database. It defines a mass killing as four or more people dead, not including the perpetrator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.