US man arrested for shooting ex-wife and five others

A 53-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested for allegedly shooting his ex-wife and five other people dead in a small Mississippi town.

The BBC reported that the gunman, acting alone and armed with three firearms, fatally shot the victims at a shop, inside two homes and on the street in the town of Arkabutla due to as yet unidentified motives.

Police sources reveal that the suspect entered a petrol station convenience store at around 11am and opened fire against a man with whom he had no apparent connection, before going to a nearby home and killing the gunman’s ex-wife.

He is then said to have driven to a house next to his own and shot another man who is thought to have been the alleged killer’s stepfather, plus an unidentified woman.

Finally, he reportedly opened fire for no apparent reason against two builders working on a nearby construction site, also killing them on the spot.

Witnesses contacted the local Sheriff department with a description, and officers managed to arrest the shooter following a brief car chase.

A nearby school was placed on emergency lockdown during the incident to protect children and staff.

This is said to be the 73^rd mass shooting, ie with four or more victims, in the US since the start of the year – confirming an ongoing rise in such incidents.

Figures published by the Gun Violence Archive show that there have been more than 600 mass shootings every year for the last few years – an average of nearly two a day.

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