Accused motel shooting spree killer had long history of arrests

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Jeremy Reynolds is the suspect accused of killing four people in a deadly multi-city shooting spree, but police say that’s not where his criminal history started.

Before allegedly shooting and killing three people at a Biloxi motel and another man in Gulfport before later dying in the back room of a gas station, Jeremy Reynolds was scheduled to stand trial next month. He faced charges from a Christmas Eve 2020 armed robbery of the Exxon Gas Station on 30th Ave. in Gulfport. Court documents obtained by WLOX accused Reynolds of threatening a clerk with a stolen gun.

Tony Young was the threatened clerk and said Reynolds was a regular customer.

“All I know is he pointed a gun at my side and told me to open the drawer up,” Young said. “So I said ok, held my hands up, I opened the drawer up and let him get the cash out of the register.”

According to Young, Reynolds then stole his car.

That 2020 incident resulted in just the latest arrest in a long string of run-ins with the law for Reynolds dating back to 2006. He also had numerous arrests under another name, Jeremy Alexander Bogan.

Even with the long rap sheet, Reynolds was let out of jail from the armed robbery charges on $250,000 bond.

Former USM criminal justice professor Tom Payne said there are procedures in place that would have kept Reynolds off the streets.

“There is no constitutional right to a bond and we can prevent people that we perceive to be a risk of flight or a risk of safety from getting a bond,” Payne said. “90% of offenders in people who have been arrested get out, go to trial and never hurt anybody, but there’s a 7-10% maybe even more now of individuals who are repeat offenders who we simply can’t let out of jail.”

Between the 2020 gas station robbery and last week’s shooting spree, Reynolds was also arrested two other times, including just three days after he bonded out. He was charged with possession of spice on December 27, 2020. Also, in 2021, he was back in police custody for a probation violation. Despite new charges, he was released both times without having to post any bond.

Seeing the deadly events unfold last week served as a reminder for Tony Young of how close of a call he himself had with Reynolds.

“I’m so thankful that Mr. Reynolds didn’t kill me because he probably could have the way he did last week with all his other victims,” said Young.

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