BILOXI, Miss — Three murders and a deadly carjacking led to a standoff with police at a Gulfport gas station Tuesday that ended in the suspected killer’s death.
Jeremy Reynolds, 32, has been named as the suspect in all four killings.
Reynold’s alleged crime spree started at the Broadway Inn Express hotel, on Beach Boulevard near the Biloxi beach around 9 a.m.
Police say Reynolds killed the hotel’s owner and two workers, then stole one of their cars to flee the scene before police arrived.
The Harrison County coroner identified those victims as 51-year-old Mohammad Moeini, the hotel’s owner, 61-year-old Laura Lehman and 55-year-old Chad Green, who both lived and worked at the hotel.
Police say Reynolds then abandoned the vehicle and carjacked Williams Waltman, 52, at gunpoint. Waltman, a long-time contractor for the City of Gulfport, was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Authorities said Reynolds then led police on a high-speed chase that ended at a Gulfport convenience story, where Reynolds barricaded himself inside.
A 45-minute long standoff ensued where police say Reynolds refused to communicate with them. Officers eventually used tear gas to try and force him out of the building, but he never came out. A S.W.A.T. team then went in and found Reynolds dead inside the back office.
The Harrison County Coroner said there were no gunshot wounds or apparent trauma to Reynolds’ body. A full autopsy will be performed to determine his cause of death.
Why all this happened is still unknown.
“It’s going to take awhile as we ascertain the answers,” Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes said. “We’re going to get through this together, but it’s hard, it’s difficult, it’s painful.”
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