Before he fired a shot at a Maryland sheriff's deputy, sending bystanders fleeing from a suburban sandwich shop, a drifter had a history of harming, stalking and scaring those closest to him, according to the man's estranged son, reports the Associated Press.

David Brian Evans, 68, shot one Harford County sheriff's deputy in the head Wednesday after the officer approached him inside a Panera Bread in Abingdon following a concerned phone call to the department from his ex-wife. Evans then fled the restaurant to a nearby parking lot, where he exchanged fire with responding deputies, killing another before receiving fatal gunshot wounds himself.

One of Evans' sons, Jeremie, said family members had recently seen his father, who had disappeared to Florida for several years, and reported that they were afraid he'd come back to Maryland to harm them.

Sheriff Jeremy Gahler identified the slain officers Thursday as Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey, a 30-year veteran of the department who served in the Marines and as a volunteer firefighter, and Senior Deputy Mark Logsdon, a 16-year department veteran who had served in the Army. Both were fathers.

Dailey responded to a call at the crowded restaurant about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore and encountered Evans, who shot him within seconds and without warning, the sheriff said. A short time later, Evans engaged in a shootout with deputies and killed Logsdon.

"To the people who wear this uniform, there are no words," the sheriff said at a news conference. "These men are heroes. I don't know what else to say. They served this county, they served this country, faithfully and honorably, and lost their lives doing what they love to do."