Man with alleged connection to Lakeland mass shooting shot, killed by police
One violent act after another today in Winterhaven, including a police pursuit, a carjacking, and a person dead. According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, officers were pursuing a suspect believed to be connected last Monday's mass shooting in Lakeland when things went from bad to worse. News channelist Justin Schucker in Winterhaven tonight with the latest on the investigation. Polk County Sheriff's deputies spent several hours piecing together the wild sequence of events here on Havendale Boulevard in Winterhaven. Sheriff Grady Judd says this all ended when the suspect crashed a stolen car right into this business after a Lakeland police captain fired several shots at him. We don't choose to chase. People choose for us to chase them.
We don't choose to shoot. People choose for us to shoot them. Sheriff Grady Judd says Lakeland police with the help of federal and state law enforcement were conducting surveillance on 21-year-old Alex Green Monday afternoon at a home in Eagle Lake near Winterhaven. This guy had a warrant for burglary. We were just trying to arrest him for the warrant in the hopes of getting an interview with him. Lakeland police chief Sam Taylor says the surveillance of Green was tied to last Monday's drive by mass shooting. I will tell you that we are very confident that he is in fact involved to what extent we don't know yet.
After fleeing a traffic stop, Sheriff Judd says Green led Lakeland police on a chase into Winterhaven. LPD Captain Eric Harper performed a pit maneuver to stop Green's white pickup truck. The sheriff says he then carjacked an elderly woman in a restaurant parking lot. The suspect takes off in her car, which is running, drives toward Captain Harper, who shoots six times. I was like, oh my god, that sounds like gunshots. Witness Glennon Jones says it's amazing the suspect didn't hit any other cars as he weaved onto the wrong side of the busy road. And then when I saw him jump the sidewalk, I said, oh my god, he's going to go through that window.
A task force led by the state attorney is investigating whether the Lakeland captain's use of force was justified. The sheriff says Green was pronounced dead in the hospital. His life ended today because of his decision. And Lakeland police chief Sam Taylor says detectives have promising leads as they try to track down the rest of the suspects when the mass shooting one week ago. Reporting in Winterhaven, I'm Justin Shecker, 8 on your side.
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