A Mississippi man was arrested early Sunday morning after going on a multi-town shooting spree that left eight people dead, including two children and a sheriff’s deputy. Willie Corey Godbolt, 35, allegedly got in an argument with his estranged wife before the shooting began.

Authorities were originally called to a domestic incident at a home in Bogue Chitto, a rural town in Mississippi, at 11:30 p.m. It was there that Godbolt killed three women and the sheriff’s deputy who responded before fleeing the scene, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

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Godbolt then went on to a second home in Brookhaven, a town about 70 miles south of Jackson, where he killed two young boys. At the last and final crime scene, a separate home also in Brookhaven, Godbolt killed a man and a woman. Authorities finally apprehended him at the third home, seven hours after the incident initially began.

While sitting handcuffed on the ground after being arrested, Godbolt confessed to the killings to a Clarion-Ledger reporter, saying he did it because he loved his wife, children and Bogue Chitto.

“I was having a conversation with her stepdaddy and her mama and her, my wife, about me taking my children home,” he said. “Somebody called the officer, people that didn’t even live at the house. That’s what they do, they intervene.”

Godbolt said he never intended to kill the deputy and blamed whoever called the police for his death.

“My pain wasn’t designed for him,” he said. “He was just there. We was talking about me trying to take the children home… somebody called the officer… that’s what they do, they intervene. It cost him his life. I’m sorry.”

The shooter also said he did not plan to leave the situation alive.

“My intentions was to have God kill me,” he told the reporter. “I ran out of bullets. Suicide by cop was my intention. I ain’t fit to live. Not after what I done.”

Godbolt’s stepfather in law, Vincent Mitchell, told the Associated Press that Godbolt’s wife and their children had been staying at his house for a few weeks since she had left her husband. He said that when the deputy arrived at the home, Godbolt appeared as though he was going to leave, but instead pulled out a gun and began shooting. Mitchell and Godbolt’s wife were able to get away, but Mitchell’s wife, her sister and one of his wife’s daughters were killed.

“I’m devastated,” said Mitchell. “It doesn’t seem like it’s real.”

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Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement regarding the incident Sunday.

“Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities,” said Bryant. “Too often, we lose one of our finest. I thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their hard work.”

The sheriff’s deputy killed was identified as William Durr, 36, a two-year veteran of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and a four-year veteran of the Brookhaven Police Department. Authorities had not identified the remaining persons killed or their relationship to Godbolt and were waiting to notify family members before doing so. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said it was too soon to determine the motive for the crime and charges had not yet been filed.

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