ARKABUTLA, Mississippi - A gunman went on a rampage in a small Mississippi town on Friday, killing his former wife and five other people in three locations before sheriff’s deputies arrested him, the county sheriff and witnesses said.

The bloodshed occurred in Arkabutla, a rural hamlet of fewer than 300 people in Tate County in northern Mississippi, about 60km south of Memphis, Tennessee.

The gunman, identified as Richard Dale Crum, 51, was charged with first-degree murder, Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance told reporters on Friday.

US President Joe Biden condemned the shooting and urged Congress to enact gun control measures, including background checks, an assault weapons ban and requiring the safe storage of guns.

“Jill and I are mourning for the six killed in today’s violence in Tate County, Mississippi – as we have for far too many Americans,” Mr Biden said in a statement on Friday, referring to his wife.

Investigators have yet to ascertain a motive, but Sheriff Lance said they would start by examining the suspect’s relationship with his former wife.

The authorities first received a call about a shooting at a gas station convenience store. Before deputies arrived, they received another call about a second shooting at a nearby home.

One man was shot dead at the store. A woman, later determined to be Crum’s former wife, was found dead at the home, the sheriff said.

Deputies tracked down the suspect to the driveway of another home and arrested him without a struggle. That turned out to be Crum’s home – and deputies found four more bodies: two behind the home and two on the roadway.

Crum may have had a family connection with the victims behind the house. The others appeared to have been workers on a job at the site, said Sheriff Lance.

“We don’t have a lot of violent crime here,” he said. “This is shocking.”

Deputies recovered a shotgun and two handguns from the suspect.

Teenager Ethan Cash, who witnessed some of the events at the store, said he pulled out his pistol and considered firing at the suspect, who was armed with a shotgun, but held his fire.

Ethan, 18, told Reuters that he instead tended to a man who had been shot inside his car which was outside the store. The man had no pulse and was unresponsive.

He said he then drew his pistol on another man, who turned out to be the victim’s brother.

“He said, ‘Man, they just shot my brother,’“ Ethan said. “And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry.’“

Ethan said he spotted the suspect and considered opening fire.

“I was going to start shooting at the guy as he was pulling off, but I didn’t know exactly who it was, and I didn’t want to hurt anybody, so I kind of let the officers handle it. It’s their job, anyway,” Ethan said.

Ethan predicted the shootings would leave a deep impact on the town.

“It’s definitely confusing when it happens,” Ethan said, “especially when you hear six, seven people have been murdered and no one knows why.” REUTERS