One of four escaped Mississippi inmates, accused of fatally shooting a pastor and stealing his truck, was confirmed dead after barricading himself in a home he then set on fire during an armed standoff with deputies Wednesday, authorities said.

Authorities said the remains of Dylan Arrington, 22, were found inside the charred house in Leake County, Mississippi hours after the confrontation began. 

Sheriff Randy Atkinson said that before the fire broke out, Arrington refused to surrender and opened fire on a deputy around 7 a.m., hitting him in the leg.

The wounded officer was taken to Leake Baptist Hospital, where his condition was stable.

Arrington was initially suspected of being in the area when the owner of the torched home said he saw someone that matched his description hiding inside a trailer behind his house Tuesday evening.

He quickly called the sheriff’s office and then fled with his family. Authorities searched the area, but turned up nothing even as drones and helicopters were deployed.

Around 7 a.m. Wednesday the homeowner, escorted by law enforcement, returned to his home when he discovered the fugitive inside. He booked it outside and alerted officers who were standing in the driveway, leading to the exchange of gunfire.

“He inflicted that kind of terror after escaping from jail, killing people and shooting law enforcement. But that guy won’t be killing anyone else,” Atkinson told The Associated Press.

The jailbreak unfolded around 8 p.m. Saturday when four inmates slipped out of the Raymond Detention Center through breaches in a cell and in the roof, Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said at a Monday news conference.

Jones said it is believed that the fugitives camped out on the roof Saturday and made their getaways at different times.

The escapees’ disappearance was uncovered during a headcount at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

The prisoners — Arrington, Casey Grayson, 24, Corey Harrison, 22, and Jerry Raynes, 51 — had been jailed for various felonies, most involving theft.

The Leake County Sheriff’s Office advised residents to “please keep your doors locked and have no keys or weapons in your vehicles.”

On Tuesday, authorities revealed that Arrington, who was in lockup on charges of auto theft and gun possession, was a suspect in the killing of 61-year-old Anthony Watts in Jackson.

Watts, a well-regarded pastor, was fatally shot around 7 p.m. Monday after he stopped on Interstate 55 to help a man who had crashed a motorcycle he allegedly had stolen just moments earlier.

Police said that man, later identified as Arrington, shot the Good Samaritan multiple times before speeding away in the victim’s red Dodge Ram. Watts was pronounced dead at the scene.

Watts was the head pastor of St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church in D’Lo, Mississippi.

Watts’ stolen pickup truck, which has tan trim and Cowboys stickers on the front and the back, was last seen heading south on I-55 in Terry, Mississippi, police said.

Another escapee allegedly stole a Hinds County Public Works vehicle, which was later recovered hundreds of miles away in a suburb of Houston, Texas.

And investigators believe a red Chevy Silverado that was stolen near the Jackson jail is also connected to the escape.

“We are actively and aggressively looking for these individuals, and we hope to have them back in custody soon,” Jones said. “We are seeking the assistance of other agencies, including our federal partners, to get them back into custody as quickly as possible.”

The US Marshals Service and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are among the agencies helping with the manhunt.

As of Wednesday night, the three remaining have not been captured.

“Be extra cautious, be vigilant of anything that appears to be suspicious,” Jones warned the public Tuesday.

The brazen jailbreak comes 10 months after a federal judge ordered a rare takeover of the Jackson detention center after he said deficiencies in supervision and staffing led to “a stunning array of assaults, as well as deaths.”

Seven people died last year while detained at the jail, US District Judge Carlton Reeves said.

Reeves wrote in his July ruling that cell doors did not lock and a lack of lighting in cells makes life “miserable for the detainees who live there and prevents guards from adequately surveilling detainees.”

He also said guards sometimes slept instead of monitoring cameras in the control room.

Attorneys for Hinds County decried the takeover, and Jones said in December that county officials were committed to addressing the problems at the jail.

Just days before control of the jail was set to be transferred to the appointed receiver on Jan. 1, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the lower court’s order until it ruled on the county’s motion for reconsideration — a move that was welcomed by Hinds County officials.

With Post wires