Fugitive murder suspect is' gunned down by family while he held them captive in their own home'

Fugitive McCloud 33, in jail since January charged with kidnap, rape and murder of Sharon Wilson, 69,  last June

    Escaped from jail in Vicksburg, MS, a week ago
 after attacking a jail guard with a shank, forcing him to hand over uniform
    Police hunt on for seven days with helicopters and dogs
    Broke into a family home in the search area on Thursday at 4am taking man, woman and baby hostage
    One of the adults shot him at 7am

  

A capital murder suspect who escaped from a Mississippi jail last week has been shot dead by one of the people he had taken hostage, reports claim.

Rafael McCloud, 33, escaped from the Warren County jail in Vicksburg last Wednesday after attacking a jail guard with a shank and donning his uniform.

A week later, at 4.30am on Thursday, he broke into a family's home and took a man, woman and child hostage. But at around 7am, one of the adults managed to find a gun and shoot McCloud dead, police told the Vicksburg Post.

Photo: Justin Sellers/Vickersburg Post

Rafael McCloud, 33, escaped from the Warren County jail in Vicksburg last Wednesday after attacking a jail guard and donning his uniform

The home was at the center of the police search, but McCloud had eluded officers until he was shot. 

He had been in jail since January, charged with the kidnap, rape and murder of Sharon Wilson, 69, whose badly beaten body was found dumped in an abandoned hospital last year, according to WLBT.

But on March 2, he escaped his cell by taking a jail guard hostage with a homemade shank - a crude knife made from a piece of metal - and forcing the jailer to give him his clothes.

According to Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, McCloud 'forced the guard to disrobe and then put on his clothes' then 'held the shank against the guard' as they went downstairs before McCloud left through a side door.

He said that McCloud also took a radio and keys. Both items were recovered later in the grounds of the jail, as were McCloud's orange jail shoes. 

Photo: Theresa Apel/Oregon Ledger

During the search, police issued a warning to locals, saying he was 'armed, desperate, extremely dangerous'

Initially, police were concentrating the search along Martin Luther King Boulevard, about a half mile northeast of the jail and around the area where McCloud once lived. Pictured: officers during the land and air search 

Photo: Theresa Apel/Oregon Ledger

Sheriff Pace led officers into a home in Vicksburg while on the hunt for McCloud

Dozens of officers, including the department’s K-9 officer Thor, were involved in the search, along with multiple units from the county sheriff's department.

During the search, police issued a warning to locals, saying McCloud was 'armed and desperate and extremely dangerous'. 

Schools in western Mississippi were locked down as authorities searched on foot and in helicopters.

Photo: Google Maps

Schools in western Mississippi were locked down as authorities searched on foot and in helicopters 

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Courtesy: vicksburgpost