A man went on a killing spree in Mississippi as he shot 4 people dead before getting into a standoff with the cops. Identified as Jeremy Reynolds, 32, the suspect was later found dead inside a local business by the SWAT team, authorities told NY post.
The police officials believe that on Wednesday morning, Reynolds initially gunned down the owner and two employees of the Broadway Inn Express in Biloxi. He then drove down to the neighboring city of Gulfport where he shot another man during a carjacking. In an effort to escape arrest, Reynolds attempted to barricade himself in a gas station store as police entered to find him dead. The cause of death remains unrevealed.
Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper during a press briefing explained, "we attempted negotiation with the suspect. We ended up tear-gassing the building, we received no response, and then entered the building to find him deceased."
The officials believe the shooting might have been caused due to a disagreement over money, as explained by one of the victim's daughters to WLOX-TV, a television station serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Biloxi Police Department (BPD) also released a statement to the press wherein they described that they responded to reports of shots fired at a Broadway Inn Express hotel just after 9 am. The victims were identified as the 51-year-old owner of the motel, Mohammad Moeini and resident employees Laura Lehman, 61, and Chad Green, 55, WLOX reported.
The carjacking victim, identified as 52-year-old William Waltman when shot by Reynolds initially survived but was pronounced dead after surgery at the hospital.
According to CNN, no proper motive has been identified by the BPD, it is also unclear whether the accused knew the victims. There were also no shots were fired by Reynolds or the police during the standoff, Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said at the news conference, "a small fire was discovered near Reynolds' body, though it's not clear how it was started." Switzer further informed that this week autopsies will be performed on Reynolds and the four victims.
The standoff left the residents frightened and restless. A resident tells WLOX-TV "You see this on TV. You do this on video games like Grand Theft Auto, this was like something really out of a movie."
