VIDEO: 2 Murdered, 4 in Custody After Ultraviolent Florida Crime Spree
Hundreds of officers, including SWAT teams, scoured a Central Florida neighborhood for armed and dangerous men after a suspected robbery, high-speed chase and double homicide Friday.
All four suspects are now in custody, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said this morning.
The two people killed in the house invaded by one suspect were a mother and daughter, who, Judd told ABC News, were “viciously murdered” in a manner “much too graphic to describe.”
The violence began at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday, when four suspects conducted what Sheriff Judd describes as a "well organized" robbery of a pawn shop in Auburndale, Florida.
Police recognized the getaway vehicle and chased it – the suspected robbers shooting out of the windows at them, police say. Finally, the driver crashed the car at the Chandler Ridge neighborhood in Haines City.
One of the suspects invaded a home and allegedly murdered the mother and daughter. Police responding to a tip from a neighbor who heard screams surrounded the house. The suspect reportedly stole the homeowner's car and crashed through the garage door in a hail of fire from the officers. He crashed the car and was taken into the custody after officers unleashed K-9s on him.
This morning officials announced the capture of the third, then fourth suspect. The last suspect, who was captured without incident, was allegedly found in a shed in the neighborhood.
Only one suspect will be charged with murder, the Sheriff's Office said.
