The Latest: Shooting suspect hospitalized in good condition


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BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — The Latest in a shooting in Mississippi that left eight people dead (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

The man suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and seven others in rural Mississippi is listed in good condition at a hospital.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says Willie Corey Godbolt is being treated for a gunshot wound. University of Mississippi Medical Center spokesman Gary Pettus says Godbolt was taken to the emergency room about 70 miles from the area where authorities arrested him Sunday morning.

Authorities say the 35-year-old Godbolt shot and killed people at three locations.

A witness tells The Associated Press that he had been arguing with his estranged wife about their children when he opened fire inside his in-laws' home after the sheriff's deputy arrived. Godbolt's stepfather-in-law, Vincent Mitchell, says the slayings "all stemmed from domestic violence."

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3 p.m.

A Mississippi sheriff's deputy who was among eight people slain in a shooting rampage is being remembered by his boss as "a great guy."

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing told The Daily Leader (http://bit.ly/2rcVdka) that Deputy William Durr "had a heart of gold" and "would go out of his way to help anybody." Rushing says Durr was married and had an 11-year-old son.

Authorities say the 36-year-old deputy was killed Saturday when he responded to a call about a domestic disturbance. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says a gunman killed eight people at three different crime scenes.

Durr's off-duty hobby was ventriloquism and he would take his puppets to schools and churches to perform for children. Durr told the newspaper in 2014 he picked up the hobby at age 8.

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12:30 p.m.

A witness says a Mississippi man had been arguing with his estranged wife about their children when he opened fire inside his in-laws' home after a sheriff's deputy arrived.

Vincent Mitchell told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday the slayings of eight people "all stemmed from domestic violence."

Mitchell says three family members were killed at his home. He says: "I'm devastated. It don't seem like it's real."

He's the stepfather-in-law of suspect Willie Corey Godbolt. He says Godbolt came to his home Saturday to talk with his wife about taking their two children.

Mitchell says Godbolt appeared to be leaving after a sheriff's deputy was called to the house. But "then he reached into his back pocket. He started shooting."

Mitchell says his wife, Barbara Mitchell, was killed along with her daughter, Toccarra May, and the wife's sister, Brenda May. The deputy was also slain. Mitchell says he and the suspect's wife escaped.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says the 35-year-old Godbolt has been arrested and is in custody.

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11 a.m.

Authorities say a shooting spree that left eight people dead in Mississippi began with a call regarding a domestic dispute.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Sunday that three female victims and a Lincoln County sheriff's deputy were killed. More bodies were found at two other crime scenes — two boys were slain at the second location and a male and a female victim were discovered at the third.

The MBI identified the slain deputy as 36-year-old William Durr, who served two years at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department and four years with Brookhaven police. Names of the other victims were not immediately released.

The MBI said the suspect, 35-year-old Willie Corey Godbolt, was apprehended Sunday and was being treated for a gunshot wound at a Jackson hospital. The news release did not say whether he had been charged.

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9 a.m.

Mississippi's governor has decried the killings of eight people who were shot to death in a rural area about 60 miles south of Jackson.

Gov. Phil Bryant asked for all of the state's residents to join him and his wife in praying for those who were killed late Saturday.

He noted the "sacrifice" made by law enforcement officers to protect and serve their communities.

A Lincoln County sheriff's deputy was among the eight killed.

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Authorities in Mississippi say a suspect is in custody after eight people were killed in a shooting, including a sheriff's deputy.

Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said the shootings occurred at three separate homes Saturday night in rural Lincoln County.

Strain says charges have not yet been filed against the suspect and that it would be "premature" to discuss a motive.

It was not clear whether the suspect knew his victims before allegedly killing them.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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