6 dead, suspect is in custody after rural Mississippi spree shooting

by · UPI

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Suspect Daricka Moore has been arrested and charged in the shooting deaths of six, including a 7-year-old girl, during a Friday night shooting spree in northeastern Mississippi.

Moore, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder and likely will face related charges and the death penalty in the shooting spree that occurred in three locations, Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott told media on Saturday.

Prosecutors do not have a motive yet, but some of the victims were related to Moore, Scott said.

"Unfortunately, tonight we have dealt with tragedy in our community," he said in an earlier social media post. "I ask that you lift our victims and their families in your prayers."

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Local police responded to a 911 call that was made at 6:56 p.m. CST on Friday and reported shooting victims at a location on Blake Road in Cedarbluff in western Clay County.

Officers found Glen Moore, 67, Willie Ed Guines, 55, and Quinton Moore, 33, dead from gunshot wounds to the head at a home on David Hill Road in Cedarbluff.

Quinton Moore is Daricka Moore's brother, while Glen Moore is his father, and Guines is his uncle, and the police determined he shot them first.

Scott said Daricka Moore then stole his brother's pickup and drove to a home on Black Road, where he allegedly forced his way in and attempted a "sexual battery while armed with a handgun."

Moore is accused of shooting the 7-year-old girl, who also is related to him, while witnesses watched.

That home is the same from which the emergency call was placed, and responding officers found the girl with a gunshot wound to her head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Moore then allegedly drove to another home on Siloam-Griffin Road in Clay County, from which another 911 call was made.

Responding police found the stolen pickup used by Moore behind the home and two dead bodies inside it.

The deceased were identified as Samuel Bradley and Barry Bradley, one of whom was a pastor at a local church, Scott said. Police don't know why Moore shot them.

U.S. Marshals and police from several agencies eventually found Moore driving another stolen vehicle and took him into custody at the intersection of Joe Myers and Pine Grove roads.

Police say the vehicle he was driving when arrested is one that he stole while at the last address, and Moore is the only suspect in the shootings.

The sheriff's office did not have any previous contact with Moore, and police had not been called to the prior addresses in the past, Scott said.