Suspected Of Stress And Depression Due To War, Former US Soldier Shoots Dead Four People In Florida

JAKARTA - Four people were shot dead, including a woman and a three-month-old baby in Florida, officials said Sunday.

6, the shooter identified as Bryan Riley, 33, a former US Marine, also wounded an 11-year-old girl undergoing surgery for seven gunshot wounds, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference.

Riley, who had no relationship with the victims, engaged in a shootout with police before surrendering, and then tried to retrieve the police officer's gun while hospitalized for his own gunshot wound, before being subdued again, Judd said.

A veteran of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Riley works as a bodyguard and security guard. Her boyfriend of four years told investigators Riley suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and sometimes depression, Judd said.

About a week before the shooting, his mental health deteriorated and he told his girlfriend he had started talking to 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 press conference.

Riley also told sheriff's deputies that he was addicted to methamphetamine, Judd continued.

The shooter first appeared randomly at the house where the shooting took place on Saturday night Florida time, made a nonsensical statement, but left as police responded.

He returned Sunday morning, killing a 40-year-old man, 33-year-old mother, and baby son, Judd said. In the house next door, he also killed the 62-year-old woman's mother, Judd continued.

"Besides, if he wasn't bad enough, he shot and killed the family dog," Judd said.

Sheriff's deputies responded to reports of two automatic fire shots arriving to find the unarmed suspect outside, wearing camouflage and body armor. Riley then went back inside and "we heard another shot, and a woman screaming, and a baby whining," Judd said.

A shootout ensued before he came out unarmed and arrested.

"It would be 'fun' if he came out with a gun. We would have shot him. But he didn't because he was a coward. When someone chooses to surrender, we hold them peacefully," concluded Judd.