HILILD, Fla. (WFLA) – Three women died in a triple shooting in Nassau County, Florida on Thursday night, and the girl survived the violence.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call about a shooting at a home on West 12th Avenue in Hillard around 8pm on Thursday.
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“The deputies responded to the residence and tried to contact anyone inside,” Sheriff Bill Reaper said. “We didn’t have a response. 13:10 They looked at the open window and tried to see if there were any signs of anyone inside. When we checked the front door, they noticed it was unlocked, so they opened the door, announced it for whom they called, and no one called, but there was no response.”
The sheriff said when deputies entered the house they found a woman who had died in the area of the living room’s room, another deceased woman in the bathroom in the hallway, and a third woman who died in the bedroom across from the hall.
Deputies also found 34-year-old Christopher Bobby Lowell lying in a pool of blood in the living room with a black “SKS-style 7.62 caliber attack rifle” next to him.
“It appears that the shooter first shot a woman in the living room, dining room area, then in the bathroom, then in the bathroom, then in the woman in the bedroom,” Reaper said. “He eventually returned to the living room where he shot him in the head.”
According to the sheriff, the five-year-old girl at home was spared from the massacre thanks to one of the victims leaving her in the bathroom for safety.
“She heard the shot, she went down the hallway and saw it. [the] The woman on the floor,” Reaper said. Then another woman in the bedroom in the hallway was shot. The kids have had a few other things I shouldn’t put out now. We do so later, but she goes out, runs across the street to a neighbor’s house, knocks on the door, tells her what happened, and calls it 911. ”
All parties involved were said to be related. The Reaper said the girl is now safe with other family members, but she is seriously hurt.
“A five-year-old was naturally shocked,” he said. “She’s a very strong girl. She’s very brave. Beautiful girl. She’s with other relatives at this point. So she’s safe, but she’s hurt.”
Lowell had a slight pulse when the deputy found him, but Reaper said he was now clinically dead and would harvest his organs.
“It was heartbreaking, completely, completely unnecessary,” Reaper said.
