LARGO, Fla. — The two men wounded in a shooting Wednesday morning at Stout's Automotive in Largo have died.
Largo police confirmed that one of those men was the shooter, 78-year-old Eugene Becker, while the other was Jodie Stout, the owner of the shop. Detectives say Becker apparently shot Stout because he was unhappy with past service on his car.
The shooting
The shooting initially happened around 11:30 a.m. Sept. 27. When police arrived on the scene, they found both Becker and Stout with gunshot wounds. They were taken to local hospitals where they were later pronounced dead.
Upon investigating the shooting, detectives say they learned that Becker had come to Stout's Automotive that day in a rental car, went to the front desk and asked specifically for Stout by name. When Stout confirmed he was the owner of the shop, Becker pulled out a gun and fired at him. Stout then got his own gun and fired back.
The two men shot at each other multiple times, both suffering life-threatening wounds in the shootout.
A revenge killing
A member of Becker's family told detectives that he had service done to his car at Stout's in 2021, according to police. He was apparently unhappy with the service and felt like he was overcharged. Then on Monday, Sept. 18, Becker got into a car crash in Pinellas Park. He was hospitalized, and his car was totaled.
The crash left Becker depressed and extremely frustrated, according to the family member. This led detectives to conclude that Becker shot Stout in retaliation.
Sudden deaths
This is just one of several recent high-profile incidents in Florida during which a seemingly minor dispute has ended in deadly gunfire.
Earlier this month, a man at a luxury apartment complex in Jacksonville fatally shot two adults and a toddler during an argument over the sale of a dog.
In DeLeon, a 78-year-old man shot and killed his neighbor who was trimming trees along his property line. In Bayonet Point, an argument ended with a deadly shooting back in August.
In Ocala, a white woman shot and killed her Black neighbor during an argument over children playing outside in July. In Dunedin, a man killed his pool tech cleaner with an assault rifle after mistaking him for an intruder.