Police say suspect 32-year-old Jeremy Reynolds first fatally shot dead three people at a hotel in Biloxi before heading to the nearby town of Gulfport, where he allegedly stole a car and shot a man.
When officers later found Reynolds, he barricaded himself in a store until authorities finally entered to find him dead for unknown reasons, police said.
The incident began Wednesday morning in Biloxi, when police responded to reports of shots fired at the Broadway Inn Express shortly after 9 a.m., the Biloxi Police Department (BPD) said in a press release.
When officers arrived, they found three victims dead from obvious gunshot wounds. They were later identified as the hotel’s owner, Mohammad Moyney, 51, and two employees who also lived at the hotel, Laura Lehmann, 61, and Chad Green, 55, BPD said during a joint news conference with Gulfport Police Department ( GPD).
Biloxi officials found that the suspect fled to the nearby town of Gulfport in a vehicle belonging to one of the victims, BPD reported.
No motive has been identified for the shooting at the hotel, Biloxi police said, noting whether it was unclear whether the suspect was staying at the hotel or knew the victims.
At Gulfport around 9:30 a.m., police responded to a shooting that found 52-year-old William Waltman shot and abducted by a suspect later identified as Reynolds, Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper told a news conference.
Waltman was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead after surgery, GPD reported.
When Gulfport officials later found Reynolds and the stolen vehicle, he ran to a nearby store, they said.
Two employees of the store managed to escape before Reynolds barricaded himself inside, the GPD said in a statement.
SWAT teams from GPD and Harrison County were sent to the scene and “made repeated attempts to contact the suspects within the business,” the GPD said in a statement. After introducing tear gas into the building, the SWAT team entered and found Reynolds “dead due to unknown circumstances,” GPD said.
No shots were fired by the suspect or police during the clash, Harrison County Coroner Brian Sweezer told a news conference. A small fire was found near Reynolds’ body, but it is not clear how it arose, Suitzer added.
Reynolds and the four victims will be autopsied this week, Suitzer said.
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