Former Camp Lejeune Marine accused by deputies in Florida mass shooting
POLK COUNTY, F.L. (Associated Press & WITN) - A former Camp Lejeune Marine is accused by deputies of killing several people, including a mother and the 3-month-old baby she was cradling, this weekend in Florida.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office identified Bryan Riley, 33, as the man police and deputies battled in a massive gunfight on Sunday.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that Riley was a sharpshooter in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Riley’s LinkedIn page said that he was stationed at Camp Lejeune with the 1st Battalion 6th Marines and the 1st Battalion 9th Marines between 2007 and 2011. The profile said he served in Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan between 2009-2010. The profile goes on to show experience with several military security firms including Academi which used to be Blackwater and was based out of Moyock, N.C.
The sheriff said that Riley’s girlfriend told authorities the man had been slowly unraveling for weeks and repeatedly told her that he could communicate directly with God.
The following is Associated Press reporting on the events the sheriff’s office said unfolded this past weekend.
“They begged for their lives and I killed them anyway,” Judd said Riley told them during an interrogation.
Investigators said preliminary evidence shows 40-year-old Justice Gleason just happened to be an unlucky stranger out mowing his lawn Saturday night when Riley drove by his home in Lakeland, about 30 miles east of Tampa, saying God told him to stop because Gleason’s daughter was going to commit suicide.
A second, unidentified person also confronted Riley, telling him that story wasn’t true and warned they’d call police if he didn’t leave, Judd said. He referred to the person as a victim but declined to clarify which one.
Authorities responded to the scene but never found Riley.
About nine hours later, around 4:30 a.m., Riley returned to the home, laying out glowsticks to create a path leading to the house to draw officers “into an ambush,” Judd said.
Randomly, a lieutenant far in the distance heard popping noises and immediately put the agency on active-shooter mode, bringing all state and local law enforcement in the area to the scene.
Following the sounds of gunfire, authorities arrived at the home and found Riley’s white truck ablaze and an unarmed Riley outside, dressed in camouflage.
Riley immediately ran inside, where authorities heard another round of gunfire, “a woman scream and a baby whimper,” Judd said.
more:
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/09/06/former-camp-lejeune-marine-accused-by-deputies-florida-mass-shooting/