Woman and her 3-month-old baby among four killed in unprovoked shooting

Suspect Bryan Riley being escorted to police vehicle - YouTube screenshot (courtesy of FOX 13 Tampa Bay)

Four shot dead, including infant in mother’s arms, by man who then opened fire on police: ‘Horror of the utmost magnitude’

Posted by: | |Categories Featured, Investigations, Must Reads
Share:

LAKELAND, FL – Polk County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 33-year-old man earlier in September after officials say he murdered four people – among them a mother and her 3-month-old child in her arms – in a random series of homicides possibly fueled in part by methamphetamines.  

The incident was preceded by the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Bryan Riley, going to a woman’s house at approximately 7:30 p.m. on September 4th and claiming that he needed to speak with their daughter “Amber” because God had spoken to him and told him that this “Amber” was suicidal.

The woman called 911 about the incident, as there was no one by the name of “Amber” at their residence.  She told the suspect to leave as she nor anyone else in the area knew him. By the time deputies arrived on the scene, Riley was nowhere to be found despite searching the area for roughly 30 minutes.

Then, at approximately 4:30 a.m. on September 5th, a lieutenant with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was on another call when he heard the sound of gunfire emanating from roughly two miles away from where he was at. At around the same time, 911 calls started pouring in over the gunfire.

Sheriff Grady Judd explained during a press conference that it was the same house where the original call came in about Riley:

“It was the same exact house that (gunman) showed up nine hours earlier.”

Ron Forrer, a neighbor who heard the gunfire going off, described it as such:

“It was like bam, bam, bam bam bam, and I heard that more than once, and I thought that sounds like gunfire.”

Sheriff Judd stated that by the time deputies arrived on the scene, they had found a truck on fire and numerous glowsticks that lined the pathway leading up to the house, where deputies eventually came face-to-face with Riley:

“At that moment in time as we approached, we saw (Riley) totally outfitted in body armor and looked as if he was ready to engage us all in active shooter situation, but we didn’t see a firearm.”

Riley reportedly ran back into the house after deputies saw him, which then the deputies could hear the sound of gunfire going off – and then, a woman screams and the whimpering of a baby. A sheriff’s lieutenant tried entering the home from the front, but the suspect had barricaded the doorway.

The lieutenant then made their way over to the back of the home, where the lieutenant reportedly came under fire from the suspect. Roughly a dozen shots were traded between the lieutenant and Riley, according to Sheriff Judd.

After a brief period of silence, Sheriff Judd said that Riley emerged and surrendered to deputies, which the suspect had apparently been struck by returned gunfire from the earlier exchange with the lieutenant.

After securing the suspect, Sheriff Judd described a grisly crime scene that spanned across two houses on the property. In the first home, deputies found an 11-year-old girl alive who had suffered several gunshots wounds, who told deputies:

“There’s three more dead people in the house.”

Deputies later found the bodies of 40-year-old Justice Gleason, and a mother and her 3-month-old child dead, with the mother still holding on to her lifeless child. Sheriff Judd stated during a press conference that he’ll never be able to wipe that image from his mind:

“I will never be able to unsee that mother with that deceased infant in her arms as they both lie there dead. It is a horror of the utmost magnitude.”

Inside of another home located on the property, deputies found the body of the child’s 62-year-old grandmother. Authorities say that the family dog was also killed in the horrific episode.

When speaking on Riley being taken into custody without further incident, Sheriff Judd did not mince his words when saying that he somewhat hoped that Riley would’ve kept engaging deputies so that way they’d could’ve justifiably shot him dead right there:

“He came out with his hands up and that’s why there was no more gunfire. It would be nice if he had come out with a gun and then we would have been able to read a newspaper through him and we’d be having a different conversation right now. But, when someone gives up we take them into custody peacefully.”

“If he had given us the opportunity, we’d have shot him up a lot. But, he didn’t because he’s a coward. It’s easy to shoot innocent children and babies and people in the middle of the night when you’ve got a gun, but he’s not much of a man.”

Investigators say that there is no known connection between Riley and the victims killed during the incident. Sheriff Judd revealed that Riley had been honorably discharged from the Marines and bore virtually no criminal history.

The sheriff said that Riley tried convincing deputies that he was mentally ill during in-custody interviews, and shared some of the disturbing details Riley shared with investigators:

“He said at one point to our detectives, ‘They begged for their life, and I killed them anyway.’ He’s evil in the flesh. He was a rabid animal.”


The young girl who survived the massacre was transferred to an area hospital. She has undergone surgery and is expected to recover.

Do you want to join our private family of first responders and supporters?  Get unprecedented access to some of the most powerful stories that the media refuses to show you.  Proceeds get reinvested into having active, retired and wounded officers, their families and supporters tell more of these stories.  Click to check it out.

LET Unity

“Operation Child Protector”: 17 child predator suspects arrested including several employees from Disney World

(Originally published August 5th, 2021)

POLK COUNTY, FL- According to authorities, 17 people from across central Florida have now been charged resulting from a six-day undercover investigation into child predators held by multiple agencies.

The undercover investigation was called “Operation Child Protector” and according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 16 of the 17 suspects are from Clewiston, Davenport, Kissimmee, Orlando, Polk County, and Zephyrhills. The other suspect was a visitor to the area from Los Angeles. 

Sheriff Grady Judd stated that all 17 suspects intended to engage in sexual activity with what they believed were children, but instead the encountered undercover officers who were posing as children online. Judd said in a statement:

“These are nasty, nasty, nasty people and when we go through this, understand that obviously, we can’t even use the words they use. We obviously can’t show you the pictures and the video clips that they sent to what they thought were 13-year-old little girls and little boys.”

Among the 17 suspects, several of them reportedly work at Disney World.  Authorities stated that one couple, Savannah and Jonathan McGrew, wanted to engage in a threesome with a 13-year-old girl and role-play as stepparents and stepdaughter or in a shoplifting situation.

Both of those suspects worked as custodians at Walt Disney Hollywood Studios. Judd said:

“Are you kidding me? That’s how you’re talking to 13-year-old children.”

Another one of the suspects, Kenneth Javior Aquino, was a lifeguard at Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Judd stated that Aquino left his pregnant girlfriend to have sex with someone he thought was a child. He was dressed in his work clothes when he came to the undercover location. The sheriff added:

“He’s a navy veteran. That’s right. He was working toward a dive team or a SEAL team or some kind of special ops job. They did a background check on him and found he had friends or affiliates that were gang members and they tossed him.”

Judd also stated that one suspect was HIV-positive and intended on having unprotected sex with a young girl. He did not identify who that suspect was. He added:

“Fortunately, our detectives were there instead of the 13-year-old child, but guess what? Had it been a curious little girl as opposed to our very experienced detectives, she would have been directly exposed to HIV.”

Authorities reported that in total, the suspects face 48 felony charges and two misdemeanors, with nine of them having criminal histories. The suspects are identified below:

25-year-old Kenneth Javier Aquino of Orlando – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery, one count transmission of material harmful to minor;

41-year-old Irving Olive of Lakeland – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

33-year-old Jarrod Justice of Los Angeles, California – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

31-year-old Lior Enbar of Orlando – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery, one count introduction of contraband into a detention facility, one count possession of PCP, one count possession of paraphernalia;

45-year-old Julio Enrique Cedeno of Zephyrhills – two counts transmission of material harmful to minor, one count unlawful use of two-way communication device;

Juan Guadalupe-Arroyo of Davenport – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count misrepresenting age online/use of computer to seduce a child, one count attempted lewd battery;

36-year-old Carlos Flores of Orlando – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count misrepresenting age online/use of computer to seduce a child, one count attempted lewd batter (F-3); 

47-year-old Enrique Medina of Orlando – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

30-year-old Adam Smith of Kissimmee – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

27-year-old Jeremiah Davis of Clewiston – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

44-year-old Thomas Snyder of Lakeland – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery, one count transmission of material harmful to minor;

34-year-old David Ring of Lakeland – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery, one count transmission of material harmful to minor;

27-year-old Philip Nelson of Polk County – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery;

34-year-old Jonathan McGrew of Kissimmee – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, two counts transmission of material harmful to minor, one count attempted lewd battery;

29-year-old Savannah Lawrence of Kissimmee – one count traveling to meet a minor for sex, one count attempted lewd battery; and

37-year-old Edward McGaffigan of Orlando – one count unlawful use of a two-way communication device, three sounds transmission of material harmful to minor (F-3).

Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today?  With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.  

Make sure you click “following” and then click “see first” so you don’t miss a thing!  (See image below.)  Thanks for being a part of the LET family!

Facebook Follow First

Share:
Submit a Correction
About The Author

Gregory Hoyt is an I.T. Marketing and Sales professional based out in Sierra Vista, Arizona. While being a staunch and outspoken advocate of law enforcement and first responders, Gregory Hoyt also has the experience of having spent nearly 5 years in prison as well. Since then, he's used his unique perspective to offer support and commentary about the criminal justice system. When not working or combating bad ideas, Hoyt also leisurely studies economics, history, and law.

Related Posts