One of the four men who daringly escaped from a Mississippi prison and allegedly killed a priest was killed hours later in a two-hour police standoff.
Dylan Arrington, 22, was shot and killed during the confrontation after cops tracked him to a house where he had barricaded himself. The property caught fire shortly after the standoff between police in Lake County, Mississippi.
He was one of the inmates — along with Casey Grayson, 24, Jory Harrison, 22, and Jerry Raines — who escaped from the Raymond Detention Center on Saturday. Police are still searching for the other three fugitives.
Arrington is also suspected of killing 61-year-old Rev. Anthony Watts on Monday following his daring prison escape. Watts stops to help the driver of a wrecked motorcyclist, but the car has been stolen just moments before.
Police say Arrington shot the Good Samaritan and then drove off in his truck.
Dylan Arrington, 22, was shot and killed after a confrontation with police. He had escaped from Raymond detention center on Saturday, before shooting and killing Reverend Anthony Watts Monday night. He has now been shot dead by policemen
Raymond Detention Center in Mississippi, where four inmates have escaped
The Rev. Anthony Watts, 61, was killed Monday. Watts stops to help a wrecked motorcyclist, but his car has been stolen just moments before. Arrington was suspected of killing him
During a shootout between police on Wednesday, Arrington shot a deputy before striking himself. It is unclear how the house engulfed in fire ended up.
“We have a strong feeling that he passed away inside this residence,” Hinds County Sheriff Terry Jones said Wednesday.
Lake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson said that after the cops tracked him to the house, a deputy, Detective Horn, checked the building and walked out of the house shouting that Arrington was indeed inside.
Atkinson asserted, “That was when the individual started firing from inside the house and shot at my deputy.”
The deputy, who was shot in the lower right leg, is in hospital, but his condition is believed to be stable.
Police confirmed this afternoon that the confrontation between the police at 7.10am and Arrington lasted two hours before it was resolved.
Jerry Raines is one of the prisoners who escaped from the Raymond Detention Center on Saturday
Casey Grayson is one of the prisoners who escaped from the Raymond Detention Center on Saturday
Corey Harrison is one of the prisoners who escaped from the Raymond Detention Center on Saturday
The four prisoners had escaped from the prison through gaps in the cell and ceiling on Saturday – and it wasn’t until 12:30am on Sunday that officials realized they were missing.
Arrington was originally in prison for car theft and gun possession.
His alleged killing of Watts, who was the pastor at St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church in Delo, Mississippi, occurred at 7 p.m. on Monday.
In July, a federal judge ordered a rare takeover of the prison after he said oversight and staffing deficiencies led to “a staggering array of assaults, as well as deaths.”
In December, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that order after the county filed a motion for reconsideration.
“We are actively and aggressively searching for these individuals, and hope to have them back in custody soon,” Hinds County Sheriff Tyre Jones said in a statement.
“We are seeking the help of other agencies, including our federal partners, to get them back into custody as quickly as possible.”
He warned the public, “Be very careful, and be vigilant of anything that looks fishy.”
As of Wednesday morning, the three other prisoners were still at large. They were all in prison on various criminal charges, most of them related to theft.
