A 19-year-old Greek-American killed his parents at their home in Florida and shot an officer in a shootout caught on bodycam. The teen was then shot dead on Saturday night.
Greek-American in Florida shot his parents
Christos Alexander Themelis Jr. fatally shot his 51-year-old father, Christos Byron Themelis, at their residence. At 11pm, he went on to shoot his 48-year-old mother, Rebecca Ann Themelis, on the front lawn within the officers’ view, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
Officers rushed to the house when police received a frantic 911 call from the shooter’s mother, who told dispatch that her son had just shot her husband, Sheriff Chad Chronister told the New York Post.
The mother had been instructed to walk across the front lawn towards officers present at the site, but the son shot her in the back of the head as she made her way to them. He then began shooting at the deputies, as captured on footage.
“Stop reaching for your waistband,” a deputy could be heard yelling at the teen just before he began shooting.
During the shootout, Deputy Shane McGough, 26, was shot in the leg, authorities reported. His colleagues rapidly administered life-saving measures and tied a tourniquet around his leg before he was rushed to a local hospital.
“I’m hit,” McGough said as he winced in pain, according to bodycam footage. Themelis was also shot during the shootout with four other officers. He was badly wounded and crawled back into the house, barricading himself inside.
The sheriff’s SWAT team stormed into the property shortly after and found Themelis and his father both dead from gunshot wounds, Chronister told the New York Post. Themelis likely died from wounds he suffered in the crossfire.
The officer, McGough, a two-year vet of the sheriff’s office who sustained an injury, is reportedly in stable condition. He underwent surgery on Sunday morning to remove the bullet from his leg.
The trigger-happy Greek-American apparently had some run-ins with law enforcement in Florida in the past and had his guns taken away from him, Chronister told the New York Post. “How did he have access to any type of firearm to be able to inflict this type of violence here this evening?” he questioned, calling the shooter a “monster.”
Chronister called the situation “truly scary.”
“There is no doubt that the swift response of our deputies mitigated the threat for this community,” he said in a statement, adding:
“The monster we encountered this evening is responsible for not only injuring our deputy but also killing his own mother and father. Our deputies responded to a chaotic scene and immediately put themselves in harm’s way to protect our community. Without our deputy’s quick and skillful response, an entire neighborhood would have been in danger.”