• A man armed with three guns fatally shot his ex-wife and five others.
• The victims were killed in Arkabutla.
• His attacker’s motive has yet to be determined.

A man armed with three guns fatally shot his ex-wife and five others during a rampage in a small rural town in the US state of Mississippi, police say.

The victims were killed in Arkabutla, a town of fewer than 300 people, at a number of sites, including a store and two homes.

A 52-year-old local man has been charged with first-degree murder and is held in the county jail.

His attacker’s motive has yet to be determined.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves believes the suspect acted alone.

The spree began when the gunman entered a gas station convenience shop at about 11:00 a.m. local time (17:00 GMT) and shot a man with whom he had no apparent connection, according to Sheriff Brad Lance.

He then went to a nearby house and fatally shot his ex-wife while striking but not shooting her fiance.

According to the sources, the gunman then drove to a home next to his own and fatally shot a man who may have been his stepfather as well as an unknown lady.

He then shot two persons, one in a car and one on the road near his house. According to Sheriff Lance, the remaining two victims appear to have been construction workers on a job at the site.

After a brief car chase, deputies discovered the guy inside a vehicle matching witness descriptions and apprehended him near his home.

“We don’t have a lot of violent crime here. This is shocking,” said Sheriff Lance. “I never dreamt that we would deal with something like that here.”

He said the suspect had a shotgun and two handguns in his possession.

According to the non-profit research database Gun Violence Archive (GVA), Friday’s tragedy is the 73rd mass shooting this year.

A mass shooting is defined by GVA as an incident in which four or more individuals are injured or killed.

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