The man suspected of a mass shooting in Lakeland, Florida, was fatally shot by police following a long chase.
Alex Greene, 21, was suspected of being involved in a drive-by shooting that injured 11 people in a neighborhood on Jan. 30. Four shooters were believed to have opened fire from a dark blue Nissan sedan, which later fled the scene. Two people were critically injured, and all victims were men ages 20 to 35.
TEN WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED’ DRIVE-BY MASS SHOOTING IN LAKELAND, FLORIDA: POLICE
The car driven by Greene eventually crashed into a business in Winter Haven, a short distance from Lakeland, after a police chase.
“We are very confident he was in fact involved; to what extent we don’t know yet,” Lakeland Police Chief Sammy Taylor said via the Associated Press.
Following a January 2023 investigation, he had an outstanding warrant for residential burglary, trespassing with larceny, and conspiracy to commit burglary, which detectives hoped to use to bring him in.
Greene’s criminal history spans back to 2013, when he was a preteen, police said. He has 10 previous felony charges from that time, including fleeing to elude law enforcement, battery on a law enforcement officer, possession of weapons and marijuana, and resisting arrest.
While detectives from the Lakeland Police Department, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted surveillance, Greene got into a pickup truck and drove away, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference.
Police Capt. Eric Harper drove an unmarked vehicle and tried to stop Greene “so that we don’t have this pursuit on a very busy road,” Judd said. However, Greene got out of the vehicle and started running into traffic.
“Why he and the captain weren’t run over is just the grace of God because traffic was all over the place,” Judd said.
Judd said Greene ran toward a nearby restaurant and pushed an elderly woman away from her car as she was standing next to it with the doors open. Harper approached Greene with his gun drawn.
“Captain Harper placed himself to the left of the driver’s side area of the vehicle and drew his agency issued firearm yelling commands to the suspect to ‘stop’ and ‘show me your hands,'” police said in an update. “Captain Harper was also loudly identifying himself as a police officer. The suspect refused to comply with the verbal commands.”
Greene attempted to run over Harper, at which time Harper shot six times into the driver’s side area of the vehicle. Greene struck a parked vehicle in the restaurant’s lot, narrowly missing Harper.
“The car continues down a road, weaves through flower beds, and crashes into a building,” Judd said.
Law enforcement officers pulled Greene from the car and started to perform CPR. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later declared dead. It is unclear how many times Greene was shot.
“No one else was injured in the pursuit, which we are all grateful for,” Judd said.
After receiving a search warrant for Greene’s pickup truck, authorities found 28 grams of cocaine, 4,178.9 grams of marijuana, a Glock .357 handgun, a Glock .45 handgun, and $2,813.00 in U.S. currency, police said. Greene was also in possession of $5,833 cash.
Police said Greene would have been charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, fleeing to elude, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, robbery and carjacking, resisting arrest, and possession of drugs with intent to sell.
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The shooting is being investigated by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the state attorney’s office. No details have been provided about any of the other suspects, but officials believe the shooting was a targeted attack.
“This is something that doesn’t happen in Lakeland,” Taylor previously said, adding that in his 34 years working at the police department, he had never seen so many people shot at once.
