A Mississippi sheriff’s deputy and seven other people were killed in multiple locations in rural Lincoln County before a suspect was taken into custody by police, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.
Authorities have not released the identities of the victims or the suspect, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
The newspaper’s website features a video clip of a man in handcuffs sitting in a road, surrounded by officers. The man, identified as the suspect, tells an interviewer that he was attempting to commit “suicide by cop.” He said he had been arguing with relatives about “taking my children home” before they called the police on him.
Representatives of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant called the killings a “senseless tragedy” in a statement.
“Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities,” his statement said. “Too often, we lose one of our finest.”
Lincoln County is a mostly rural area near Mississippi’s southern border with Louisiana, about 65 miles south of Jackson, the state’s capital.