Shaun Runyon, 39, has been taken into custody and allegedly confessed attacking his colleagues at a shared home in Florida
A Pennsylvania electrician who got into an argument with his supervisor at a Florida job site allegedly returned to their shared accommodation 24 hours later and attacked his colleagues with a baseball bat and a knife, leaving three dead.
Shaun Runyon, 39, got into an argument with his supervisor at 2am Friday and punched him before fleeing the Publix Corporation job site in Lakeland, Florida, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
His supervisor told police that he believed that Runyon was heading back home to Pennsylvania, as he had not been seen since the fight on Friday morning.
But Runyon allegedly returned to the temporary home that he shared with seven J & B Electric coworkers and their families at Windsor Island Resort in unincorporated Davenport.
Police say Runyon began violently attacking his colleagues with a knife and a baseball bat around 9:45 am on Saturday morning.
The sheriff confirmed that the supervisor was also living in the rented home but did not confirm the status of his condition.
Runyon allegedly beat one man to death in his sleep, and a second person wasfound dead on the front porch.
A third victim was badly beaten and taken to hospital in an ‘extremely critical condition’.
He died on Saturday evening, police said.
A fourth victim was chased into the street of the gated community where Runyon hit him in the back and shoulder with the baseball bat.
Another man escaped with his wife and 7-year-old daughter uninjured, according to Judd.
The identities of the victims have not yet been released by officials.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd (pictured) addressed the media Saturday afternoon after Runyon was apprehended at a local hospital
Judd (pictured) explained that Runyon was working with J & B Electric, Inc and living in a home in Davenport with his colleagues and their families while working on a temporary project
He allegedly got into a fight with his supervisor on Friday and was not seen again until he returned to the home, where the supervisor also lived, with a knife and baseball bat (Pictured: the scene of the crime in Florida was secured by Polk County police on Saturday)
Runyon allegedly killed one man in his sleep, another on the front porch, and left a third beaten so violently that he is not expected to live, according to Judd (Pictured: the house that was rented by the J & B Electric, Inc was taped off on Saturday as police begin their investigation)
Runyon then fled the scene at the Windsor Island Resort leading to intensive manhunt including K9 units, helicopters, and the drone team which followed his bloody trail until it went dry, law enforcement reported.
About two hours later, Runyon appeared on the doorstep of a Lake Wales couple, wearing his bloody clothes and claimed he had been raped, the sheriff said.
Officials said the couple insisted that he check himself into a Lake Wales hospital where he was apprehended by police, the sheriff reported.
Judd claimed that Runyon has confessed to his violent crimes.
Charges have not yet been filed against Runyon, who was uninjured during the spree.
‘He knew all of these victims. We have no idea what outraged him so bad that more than 24 hours later he would come back and make an attempt to kill every one of them,’ Judd said.
Runyon reportedly has a prior criminal history that includes out of state charges of strangulation, endangering welfare of a child, terroristic threats, DUI and more.
Judd insisted in his press conference that the area is safe now that Runyon is in custody but some Windsor Island Resort residents are scared.
Runyon and his colleagues were staying at a home in the Windsor Island Resort, in unincorporated Davenport, Florida (pictured). His company is based out of Pennsylvania
The victims of the violent attack in the gated community (pictured) have not been identified
He explained that he and his family had just moved to the new community six months ago, ‘We moved here because it was sold to us as a community property for families.’
‘It was a family property and now we are faced with a lot of police activity that makes us feel not quite so safe having all of our children here.’
Davenport is about a 2 hour drive from North Port where Brian Laundrie, the person of interest in Gabby Petito’s death lives, and Fort De Soto, where a manhunt for Laundrie is being conducted.
On Thursday, Judd commented on the hunt for Laundrie, which is out of his jurisdiction. ‘I can tell you, at this sheriff’s office, when he showed up with her car and she was no place to be found, we would have never let him out of our custody that day,’ Judd said.