POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Two men, including a 19-year-old, were found dead in a murder-suicide at a Lake Wales home early Monday after a hostage situation, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said the 19-year-old was the stepson of the suspect, a 40-year-old man.
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies responded to the home along Lindsay Place and Tartan Loop to assist Lake Wales police “as a result of a domestic event that went terribly bad.”
According to Lake Wales police Chief Chris Velasquez, the department received a call about a domestic disturbance just after 4 a.m.
“The domestic disturbance involved children and the caller had wanted the police department to assist with removing the children from the residence,” he said. Velasquez said the children were 14 and 16 years old.
When police arrived, one of the children ran out and said he thought he heard the suspect with a gun. Officers tried to get the suspect outside of the home, but the man at one point said he wanted “to just walk outside and have law enforcement shoot him.”
“At one point the suspect said not to shoot into the house. The reason he said that was because he was essentially using the children that were inside as a shield. He didn’t want the children to get hurt, from what he was telling us,” Velasquez said.
After 7 a.m., officers heard a gunshot and entered the home, where they found the man dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound behind the front door, according to Velasquez.
“As they cleared the rest of the house, they also found a 19-year-old man, the man’s stepson, dead in a bedroom,” he said.
When asked if he believed the man shot and killed the 19-year-old, Velasquez said “that’s our belief at this time.” Judd said it is unknown when the 19-year-old died. He said “numerous firearms” were also found in the home.
“We consider ourselves very, very lucky today. Had he wanted to have a gunfight, he could have created a war,” the sheriff said.
The police chief said the suspect was “obviously going through some kind of a crisis in his mind and he just chose the wrong way to handle this.”
An investigation is ongoing.
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