Image: – (APA/AFP/Tate County Sheriff’s Office/-)
The bloody crime took place in Arkabutla, a village with fewer than 300 residents in Tate County in northern Mississippi, about 60 kilometers south of the metropolis of Memphis in the US state of Tennessee.
It is assumed that the alleged shooter acted alone, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said on Twitter. The motive is still unknown. The broadcaster CNN reported, citing the police, that the alleged perpetrator killed his ex-wife, among other things.
The United States has long struggled with massive levels of gun violence. Fatal gun attacks are common. US President Joe Biden expressed his dismay at the latest attack in Mississippi and once again called on Congress to tighten gun laws in the country, for example to ban assault rifles. “Gun violence is an epidemic and Congress must act now,” Biden said.
There are public calls for legal reforms in the USA after every major firearm attack – but without any success. Many Republicans in Congress have been opposed to stricter regulations for years. Even the fact that children often fall victim to guns hasn’t changed that. According to the White House, more school-age children have been killed by gunfire in the past two decades than active-duty police officers and soldiers combined.
The Arkabutla gunman shot dead a man in a shop, then a woman in a nearby building, a TV station reported, citing police. He then marched to a house where he was believed to be staying and killed two more people.
A deputy sheriff spotted the suspect’s vehicle and gave chase when he didn’t stop. The suspected shooter was finally arrested in a driveway. Inside that building, officers found two other victims, one in a car, one on the street.
Source: Nachrichten
