Florida gunman kills 4 including baby

6 September 2021, 2:04 pm

A self-described survivalist in body armor shot and killed four people, including a woman and her 3-month-old baby boy in her arms, before surrendering to police in central Florida on Sunday, officials said. The shooter, identified as Bryan Riley, 33, a former U.S. Marine, also wounded an 11-year-old girl who underwent surgery for seven gunshot injuries, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told a news conference.

Riley, who had no connection to the victims, engaged in a shootout with police before giving up, and later tried to grab a police officer’s gun while being treated in the hospital for his own gunshot wound, before being subdued again, Judd said. A veteran of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Riley was working as a bodyguard and a security guard. His girlfriend of four years told investigators he suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder and occasional depression, Judd said.

About a week ago his mental health worsened and he told his girlfriend he had started speaking with God, Judd said. “He said at one point to our detectives, ‘They begged for their lives and I killed them anyway’,” Judd said at a second news conference.

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