Therese Apel

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi man was taken into custody Sunday after a shooting rampage that left eight people dead, including a sheriff's deputy, authorities said.

The shootings occurred at three homes Saturday night in rural Lincoln County, about 70 miles south of Jackson. As authorities took suspect Cory Godbolt to the ground, he said he had been shot by someone inside one of the homes. One was in Bogue Chitto, an unincorporated community of about 500 people.

A handcuffed Godbolt told the The Clarion-Ledger, in a brief conversation caught on video, that he went on the shooting spree because he loved his wife and children and he loves Bogue Chitto.

Godbolt, 35, said he had gone to a residence in Bogue Chitto to talk about his children. At some point neighbors called police, and the deputy soon arrived on the scene.

“I was having a conversation with her stepdaddy and her mama and my wife about me taking my children home,” Godbolt said as he sat on the road waiting to be transported by ambulance. “Somebody called the officer, people that didn’t even live at the house. That’s what they do, they intervene.

"It cost him his life. I'm sorry."

Godbolt said he did not expect to be captured, but that he "ran out of bullets."

"Death... Suicide by cop was my intention," he said. "I ain't fit to live. Not after what I've done."

Godbolt was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound, then transported to a local hospital.

The violence erupted at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday with a domestic call in Bogue Chitto, according to a news release from state Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain. The bodies of three women and Deputy William Durr, 36, were recovered there. The bodies of two juvenile males were then found at a crime scene in Brookhaven, Strain said.

A male and a female were also found at another Brookhaven home, Strain said. None of the victim's names was immediately released except Durr, a two-year veteran of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and a four- year veteran of the Brookhaven Police Department.

Lincoln County has a population of about 34,000. The county seat, Brookhaven, has about 14,000 people; Bogue Chitto is about 10 miles south of Brookhaven.

Gov. Phil Bryant and his wife issued a statement of condolence for the victims, particularly the deputy.

"I ask all Mississippians to join Deborah and me in praying for those lost in Lincoln County," Bryant said. "Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities. Too often, we lose one of our finest. I thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their hard work.

"May the peace of the Almighty wash over those hurting after this senseless tragedy."