“Survivalist” kills four, including infant in mother’s arms

At least four people, including an infant in their mother’s arms, were shot dead by a mass shooter who Florida police described as a “survivalist.”

Police said the victims included two women, a man, and the infant, who were killed in two neighboring homes.

Officers raced to a home in Lakeland at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning after shots were heard in a neighborhood close to Lake Gibson High School.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that a woman called 911 around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday to report a suspicious man, who deputies say was 33-year-old Bryan Riley, in a vehicle. She said the man told her that “God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters.”

She said she he wouldn’t leave so she alerted a nearby man on a lawnmower. Riley told him that he was there to speak to Amber because she was going to commit suicide and he needed to save her. They told Riley that there wasn’t anybody at the house named Amber and if he didn’t leave, they were going to call the cops. They said Riley replied by saying they didn’t need to call the cops because he is the “cops for God.”

Deputies arrived within six minutes of the call, but the man and the vehicle were already gone.

Around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, a lieutenant with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was on another call when he heard two volleys of automatic gunfire about two miles away. At the same time, PCSO began getting 911 calls about reports of shots fired and began community-wide active shooter protocols.

As law enforcement approached the area, they saw a truck on fire and heard a popping noise. They saw a man, whom they say was Riley, dressed in camouflage, but did not see a gun at the time. Deputies say there was also a path made of glowsticks going from the road to the house. As law enforcement approached, the man ran into the house. That’s when officers and deputies heard another volley of gunfire followed by a woman screaming and a baby whimpering.

The lieutenant went to the back of the house where the suspect shot at him. The lieutenant returned fire and got away from the house. That’s when the suspect starting shooting at deputies and officers with the Lakeland Police Department. Law enforcement officers returned fire and at least one bullet struck Riley, who had put on a bulletproof vest.

A PCSO helicopter was up and they saw Riley come out of the house with his hands raised. He was taken into custody and then to Lakeland Regional Hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound.

According to Judd, while at the hospital, the suspect jumped up and tried to steal a gun from a Lakeland police officer, but was unsuccessful and subdued.

Inside the home, law enforcement found an 11-year-old girl with multiple gunshot wounds. She told law enforcement that there were three other bodies inside the home before being airlifted to Tampa General Hospital to undergo surgery.

Law enforcement officers found the bodies of 40-year-old Justice Gleason,  a 33-year-old woman, and a 3-month-old baby, who was in the woman’s arms dead inside the home. In another residence on the property, they also found the body of a 62-year-old woman. Law enforcement officers were searching for a 10-year-old girl, who is the sister to the 11-year-old, after the shooting, but she was safely located at a relative’s home on Sunday morning.

Sheriff Judd said, “I will never be able to unsee that mother with that infant laying deceased in her arms as she lay dead.”

Law enforcement officers also found the family dog shot to death in the home. Sheriff Judd said the dog was named Diogi after the PCSO K-9 that was killed in the line of duty in 2005.

According to Sheriff Judd, Riley told detectives, “they begged for their lives and I killed them anyway.” Judd added, “He is evil in the flesh. He is a rabid animal.”

Judd says law enforcement was worried about booby traps when they entered the home and they found blood-stop kits and first-aid kits inside the suspect’s truck. He says the suspect “was ready for battle.”

Judd said, “He came out with his hands up and that’s why there was no more gunfire. It would be nice if he had come out with a gun and then we would have been able to read a newspaper through him and we’d be having a different conversation right now. But, when someone gives up we take them into custody peacefully. If he had given us the opportunity, we’d have shot him up a lot. But, he didn’t because he’s a coward. It’s easy to shoot innocent children and babies and people in the middle of the night when you’ve got a gun, but he’s not much of a man.”