The man was involved in a firefight with police officers before being arrested and later attempted to grab a gun from a hospital officer, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Deputies then found four people dead: a man, a woman and the baby inside the house and another woman inside a second house on the property, Judd said. An 11-year-old girl had also been shot several times and was taken to Tampa General Hospital for surgery. Another child, originally reported missing, was found alive and well, he said.
“This man killed four people this morning, tried to kill our deputies and then surrendered,” Judd said. The suspect described himself as a “survivor” and confessed to being on methamphetamine, he said.
“He came here to a gun battle,” Judd said. “We don’t know why.”
The shooting by five began Saturday evening when a woman called authorities about a suspicious vehicle and said a man who was parked outside the house told her, “God sent me here to talk to one of the your daughters, “Judd told reporters Sunday.
A deputy responded within six minutes and found neither the suspect nor the car at the residence, he said.
About nine hours later, around four-thirty in the morning, a deputy two miles away heard two rounds of automatic fire. Deputies responded and also began calls reporting an active shooting, the sheriff said.
Upon arrival, deputies discovered a burning truck and heard noises in the front yard.
“We saw an individual fully equipped with armor and it looked like he was ready to get us all involved in an active shooter situation,” Judd said. The suspect immediately returned to the house, he said.
“At that moment, we heard another volley and a woman screaming and a baby whispering,” Judd said.
A lieutenant tried to enter the front of the house, but was barricaded. The lieutenant went to the back of the house and entered, and the suspect fired at the lieutenant, who fired again and left the house, Judd said.
At that moment, things fell silent and the suspect came out with his hands raised, Judd said. The suspect, who had once been shot, was arrested.
While in detention, he told deputies he was a “survivor.” The term generally refers to a person who is proactively preparing for a post-apocalyptic world.
The suspect was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital where, at one point, he jumped up and tried to grab an officer’s weapon, Judd said. He was finally subdued and is being treated. Judd said the suspect will be booked when he is released.
Judd said there were “at least dozens, if not hundreds” of rounds fired between the suspect and deputies.
“It was a difficult situation and involved at least two shootings near the suspect,” he said.