Inmate who escaped Mississippi jail and shot officer is dead, sheriff's department says

An escaped Mississippi jail inmate who police say may be connected to a pastor's killing — and who is also suspected of shooting an officer Wednesday morning — is dead, authorities said Wednesday night. His suspected remains had been found earlier in the day following a fire in a building he had been barricaded in.

"The remains recovered in the burned structure in Carthage, MS this morning have been identified as one of the escapees, Dylan Arrington," Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones tweeted. "The cause of death is under investigation by MS Bureau of Investigations."

Arrington was one of four inmates — along with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes — who escaped from the Raymond Detention Center near Jackson on Saturday night. After warning the community to beware of potential trespassers on and around their properties, and sharing an image of Arrington to Facebook, the Leake County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday that Arrington, 22, had shot and wounded an officer at around 7 a.m. that morning.

"The suspect was located at the residence on 2511 Conway Rd early Wednesday morning. At around 7:10 a.m. the suspect shot from within his location in the home striking Investigator Horn in the lower right leg. Horn was transported to Leake Baptist where he was stabilized," the sheriff's office wrote in another Facebook post.

"The situation continued for roughly two hours before it was resolved," the post continued, adding, "Deputy Horn was the only officer from any agency injured in the incident and is currently stable."

Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson said that Arrington had barricaded himself inside of a home when officers found him, CBS affiliate WJTV reported. The home was engulfed in flames, and while crews were working to put the fire out, they believed the person inside the home was dead, according to the news station.

"After a structure fire and exchange of gunfire between a barricaded subject believed to be escapee, Dylan Arrington and multiple law enforcement agencies, an unidentified deceased person has been located in the burned residence," Jones said earlier Wednesday. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct a probe.

While on the run, authorities said Arrington could have been responsible for the fatal shooting of 61-year-old pastor Anthony Watts on Monday night, although an investigation into that incident is still ongoing. The perpetrator of that crime also stole Watts' pickup truck.

"Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect ... fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington," Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said after Watts' death.

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• Mississippi
• Crime