Three men are beaten and shot dead while on fishing trip in Florida as police reveal one man rang his father and shouted ‘help!’ before the ‘horrific’ murder
- Damion Tillman, 23; Keven Springfield, 30; and Brandon Rollins, 27, died Friday
- The three best friends had arranged to fish in Lake Streety, Frostproof, Florida
- Rollins managed to call his father and cry ‘help’ before he died
- Rollins ‘was able to say a few things to his dad’ when he arrived on the scene
- The three were then pronounced dead at the scene
- Sheriffs believe there were multiple attackers and the three knew their killers
Police in Florida have issued a $5,000 reward for information after three men were killed in a ‘massacre’ while out fishing, with one of the men managing to call his father and cry ‘help’ shortly before he died.
Damion Tillman, 23; Keven Springfield, 30; and Brandon Rollins, 27, were described by their families as having been best friends for years, and all died in the Friday night attack.
The three men were fishing at a popular lake in Frostproof, 70 miles south of Orlando in central Florida.
Tillman traveled to Lake Streety first and arrived by himself, according to Grady Judd, sheriff of Polk County.
Three men were murdered by Lake Streety in Frostproof, Florida, on Friday night
When Rollins and Springfield arrived soon after, Tillman was being beaten by unknown attackers, and the two friends intervened to help Tillman and were shot.
Rollins called his father at about 10pm Friday and managed to only say ‘help.’
The father jumped into his car and went to where his son had said he was going fishing.
‘When he arrived he found his son Brandon barely alive, and his two friends deceased,’ the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
‘Brandon was able to say a few things to his dad, which we are not releasing at this time.’
Rollins’ father had left his home without his cellphone, so he returned to a nearby gas station and called 911, the sheriff’s office said.
When authorities arrived at the scene, all three men were dead.
Grady Judd, sheriff of Polk Country, said the ‘horrific’ scene was among the worst he’d seen
‘This is a horrific scene,’ said Judd.
‘I’ve been to a lot of murder scenes in my life and this ranks among the worst I’ve been to.’
The sheriff said they believe there was more than one killer, and that the victims knew their murderers.
‘We are seeking leads; we need help so we can solve this crime sooner rather than later because there are one or more, we suspected more, murderers that killed three people in a quiet community,’ he said.
Judd added that the suspect or suspects may have known the men.
‘You don’t just stumble upon somebody out here,’ he said.
‘It’s not like there’s a lot of people around here.
‘As you can see, it’s cow pastures and lakes.’