BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County man set his barn on fire and shot several of his neighbors before getting shot and killed by deputies last month, according to the sheriff's office.
The deadly shooting happened on Feb. 17 on Erma Road in Brooksville, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said during a news conference on Monday.
Nienhuis described this case as "more unusual than our normal incident of this nature."
It started around 4:55 p.m. when deputies received a call about a fire in the backyard of a home. About five minutes later, they received another call about shots fired at the same location.
With limited information, deputies arrived around 5:08 p.m. and determined that the shooter was possibly still armed inside the house. According to Nienhuis, it appeared that the man had been shooting people at random and was not targeting a particular individual.
A SWAT team arrived shortly after and helped rescue a person who had been shot in the leg and another person who was shot in the backyard and was not moving, the sheriff said.
Law enforcement crews then used a loudspeaker in an attempt to get the shooter out of the house.
Nienhuis said crews breached the door and determined the man was alive and still armed inside the house but was refusing to communicate.
“Doesn’t tell us to leave, doesn’t yell at us, doesn’t try to negotiate. There’s actually no communication whatsoever," the sheriff said.
After an hour of failed negotiations, crews deployed tear gas, causing the shooter to exit the house around 8:22 p.m. He pointed a gun at law enforcement, who, in response, shot and killed the man, Nienhuis said.
The sheriff said in addition to the shooter, one of the neighbors who was shot later died from his injuries.
Following an investigation, deputies said they learned the man shot his parakeet and set his barn on fire before shooting several of his neighbors who were attempting to help. A woman told investigators that the man was a military veteran and was depressed for a long time, according to the sheriff.
Nienhuis said twelve firearms were found inside the residence, staged at different areas of the house, but it's not clear what the motive was.
"It’s obvious that this individual was out of touch with reality, so I don’t know if we’ll ever know completely, but I got some information today that there might’ve been some money issues that may have been a triggering event," Nienhuis said.
You can watch the full news conference below.