Eight people are dead, including a sheriff’s deputy, after shootings on Saturday night in rural Mississippi, according to local authorities. The […]
Eight people are dead, including a sheriff’s deputy, after shootings on Saturday night in rural Mississippi, according to local authorities.
The shootings reportedly occurred at three separate properties, two in Brookhaven and the third in Bogue Chitto.
The suspect, Willie Cory Godbolt, 35, has been arrested. No charges have yet been filed.
Godbolt was hospitalized in good condition with a gunshot wound, though it wasn’t clear who shot him.
Authorities said the deputy who was shot was 36-year-old William Durr. Durr had been with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department for two years. He also served four years with the Brookhaven Police Department.
In a video interview with the newspaper Godbolt said he was talking with his wife and in-laws when somebody called authorities.
“I was having a conversation with her stepdaddy and her mama and her, my wife, about me taking my children home,” he said. “Somebody called the officer, people that didn’t even live at the house. That’s what they do. They intervene.”
“They cost him his life,” he said, apparently referring to the deputy. “I’m sorry.”
“I love my wife, I love my kids,” Godbolt said. “They would not let me live… I just wanted to love my family.”
Godbolt said he did not intend for police to capture him alive.
“My intentions was to have God kill me. I ran out of bullets,” he said. “Suicide by cop was my intention.”
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement asking state residents to pray for the victims. He also noted the “sacrifice” made by law enforcement officers to protect and serve their communities.