Scott said at a news conference that evidence and witnesses indicated that Moore was the only shooter and no other injuries have been reported.
Online court records in Clay County show Moore has no previous criminal charges, and Scott said he was not on the radar of authorities.
Investigators were continuing to interview Moore but had yet to find a motivation, he added.
“A situation like this, you’ve got a family member attacking their own family,” Scott said. “Whatever the reason is, we’re hoping that we’ll find out.”
The shootings took place an area of fields, woods and mostly modest homes in the rural community of Cedarbluff, west of the county seat of West Point and about 200 kilometres north of state capital Jackson.
Investigators believe Moore first killed his father, 67-year-old Glenn Moore, his brother, 33-year-old Quinton Moore and his uncle, 55-year-old Willie Ed Guines, at the family’s mobile home on a dirt road in western Clay County.
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The sheriff said Moore then stole his brother’s truck and drove a few miles to a cousin’s house, where he forced his way in and attempted to commit sexual battery. Scott said Moore then put a gun to the head of the seven-year-old girl, whom he declined to identify, and fatally shot her.
Scott said that according to witnesses, Moore then placed a gun against a younger child’s head, but she was not shot. It was not clear whether he did not pull the trigger or the gun misfired.
“That’s how violent it was,” Scott said.
The mother and a third child were also present, the sheriff said.
Moore then allegedly drove to a small white-framed church, the Apostolic Church of The Lord Jesus. There, Scott said, he broke into a residence, killed the pastor and his brother and stole one of their vehicles.
Scott said the last two victims, the Reverend Barry Bradley and Samuel Bradley, lived most of the time in nearby Columbus but spent weekends on church grounds. Some Moore family members attend the church, Scott said.
Moore was caught at a roadblock at 11.24pm on Friday (4.24pm AEDT on Saturday) near where the second shooting occurred, Scott said, 4½ hours after the first call came in. Colom said Moore had a rifle and a handgun. Scott said officers are investigating where Moore obtained the guns.
The state medical examiner is performing autopsies on the victims.
Scott said Moore’s surviving relatives were overwhelmed with grief.
“It was really hard to have conversations other than prayers with everybody out there,” he said, adding, “this has really shaken our community.”
Colom, a Democrat who is seeking his party’s nomination this year to run against Republican senator Cindy Hyde Smith, said he was confident that his office had the resources to prosecute Moore, and pursuing the death penalty is the right thing to do.
“Six people, one night, several different scenes, it’s about as bad as it gets,” Colom said.
AP
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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