Six people, including a child, have died after a mass shooting in Mississippi, authorities said at a news conference.

The shootings took place in the rural community of Cedarbluff, west of the county seat of West Point, near the Alabama border, on Friday night.

Daricka M Moore, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder, authorities said on Saturday, adding that the charge could be upgraded to capital murder and that the suspect may face additional murder charges.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said the victims - four of whom were family members related to the suspect - were shot at three separate locations.

The child victim was the suspect's second cousin. The sheriff added: "I don't know what kind of motive you could have to kill a seven-year-old."

Mr Scott also said that investigators believe Moore placed a gun to the head of a younger child at the home where the seven-year-old died.

Investigators are not sure whether the gun misfired, and officials said a third child and their mother were present in that house as well.

Moore is set to appear in court on Monday, the sheriff said.