RIDGELAND, Miss. (TCD) — The man believed to have fatally shot his mother and two sisters in Mississippi on Mother’s Day died during a gun battle with Arizona State Police on Monday.
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, on Sunday, May 12, at 3:30 p.m., Ridgeland Police Department officers went to the 7100 block of Old Canton Road after receiving a request for a welfare check on the occupants. When they arrived, they found Crystal Welch, 42, Ida Welch, 76, and Vicky Welch, 56, fatally shot inside the residence.
Police identified Ida Welch’s son, Ivory James Welch III, as the suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest. Officials from the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force joined the investigation and helped search for Ivory Welch.
On May 13 at 7:30 a.m., the Arizona Department of Public Safety received a tip of a possible sighting in Safford. Soon after, several state and local law enforcement agencies went to the Morenci-Clifton area to try to find Welch. They located his car at around 10:17 a.m. and conducted a traffic stop.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Welch got out of the car and brandished a gun. The Clarion Ledger reports Welch shot at state troopers. According to the Arizona Department of Safety, troopers fired back, killing him. No law enforcement officials were injured during the shooting.
Crystal Welch served as vice president of the Mississippi Free Press board of directors and taught at Mississippi College School of Law. She was also the president of the board of directors for the ACLU of Mississippi.
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How tragic! Was there any known motive behind the suspect’s actions?