Gunman Seized After 8 Killed in Florida Spree

A gunman opened fire with high-powered rifles and handguns in a crowded shopping center Thursday, killing at least eight people and wounding 12, authorities said.

The unidentified man then held two women and a man hostage in a supermarket for several hours before being apprehended by police who stormed the store through clouds of tear gas.

“The man has been arrested,” Police Lt. Candice Leek said shortly after 2 a.m. “They chased him down and subdued him. He is being brought to the station right now.”

The gunman had released the last of his three hostages about a half hour before police moved in.

Capt. Michael Taggart of the Brevard County Emergency Management Agency said that two of the dead were Palm Bay police officers.

“We have 12 confirmed injured,” Taggart said.

Peter Wahl, director of community services for Brevard County, said ambulances in the Sable Palm Square shopping center, about 30 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center, had “drawn fire” each time they approached the bodies lying on the pavement.

Earlier reports that two gunmen were involved were incorrect. An unidentified person who was first thought to be the second attacker was taken into custody by police. But he apparently was a citizen who took a weapon from his car to retaliate against the gunman, authorities said.

Almost six hours after the shooting began, police turned off floodlights in the shopping center and began negotiating with the gunman by telephone.

It appeared then that earlier plans to storm the Winn-Dixie store where he was hiding had been set aside. Wahl would not say what the gunman was demanding.

Brown, the police spokeswoman, told reporters that eight persons had been confirmed killed.

“We’re negotiating with a man inside the store,” Brown said at that time. “We sent in an armored unit to get as many people out, as many of the victims out as we can. There’s a lot of confusion and a lot of conflicting reports.”

She refused to expand about the armored unit and whether it actually extracted anyone.

Hundreds of bystanders and reporters were kept about a half mile from the shopping plaza by police barricades.

Hears 25-30 Shots

“It was pop, pop, pop, like the Fourth of July,” said Gene Romanelli, owner of Leaning Tower Pizza two stores away from the Winn-Dixie. “Myself, I heard 25 to 30 shots in just a few seconds.”

Another witness, Stephanie Call, an employee at a Hallmark card shop, said: “I heard a car come to a complete stop and squeal. People screamed and that’s when I heard a shot.

“I jumped, and I ran to the door, opened the door. And no more than 20 feet away from me this guy is shooting at anything in sight. He didn’t care. He wasn’t aiming, he wasn’t shooting at anything.”