A woman fatally shot her estranged husband several times on the steps of a courthouse after their divorce hearing.
Tanya Saucier, 49, was arrested Tuesday for gunning down James Ray Saucier, 62, outside the entryway of Pearl River County Chancery Courthouse in Poplarville after finalizing their divorce paperwork.
Gunfire broke out at the courthouse around 12.15pm on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office.
Video footage captured the chaos that ensued minutes after the shooting that left witnesses scrambling to try to save the victim and officers taking Tanya into custody on charges of first-degree murder.
‘The life-saving efforts that our citizens attempted for Mr. Saucier was phenomenal,’ Maj. Scott Allee, the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office Lead Investigator, told WLOX.
Staff from the courthouse were seen surrounding James Ray, who was lying just feet away from the building’s front doors.
Jansen Owen, who represented Tanya during the divorce process, was captured shirtless while he knelt near the victim – his clothing ripped off in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Other employees of chancery clerk’s office also jumped into action.
‘They were out there, he was in their lap,’ Owen told the outlet.
‘They helped me to apply pressure to his wounds. They took my tie and applied a tourniquet to his wounds.’
Bowman then recalled how James Ray squeezed the hand of one of the women twice before he closed his eyes for the last time.
