WINTER HAVEN, Florida — A man suspected in a mass shooting in central Florida last month was fatally shot by a police officer after a long chase and a carjacking, authorities said.
The car driven by 21-year-old Alex Greene eventually crashed into a business in Winter Haven. That’s a short distance from Lakeland, where 11 people were injured in the Jan. 30 shooting, Lakeland Police Chief Sammy Taylor said.
“We are confident that he was indeed involved; to what extent we don’t know yet,” Taylor said.
Taylor said detectives had hoped to bring in Greene with an outstanding burglary warrant to talk to him about the Jan. 30 shooting in a neighborhood near downtown Lakeland, about 30 miles east of Tampa.
While investigators from the Lakeland Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement kept watch, Greene got into a pickup truck and began to drive away. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference.
Lakeland police gave chase along a busy road.
Police Captain Eric Harper drove an unmarked vehicle and tried to stop Greene “so we don’t have this chase on a very busy road,” Judd said.
He performed a successful pit maneuver and Greene got out of the vehicle and began to run into traffic.
“Why he and the captain didn’t get run over is just the grace of God, because there was traffic everywhere,” Judd said.
When Greene realized he couldn’t get away, he ran to a diner where a woman was standing outside her car with the doors open, Judd said. The woman saw Greene, slammed the passenger door and tried to close the driver’s door.
Greene pushed the woman away and got in the car, Judd said. Harper approached with his gun drawn and yelled orders for Greene to stop and show his hands, police said in a press release Tuesday.
“Captain Harper also loudly identified himself as a police officer,” the release said.
“Suspect leaves in her car, drives toward Captain Harper, who shoots six times,” Judd said. The car continues on a road, weaves through flowerbeds and crashes into a building.”
Law enforcement officers removed Greene from the car and began CPR. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“No one else was hurt in the chase, for which we are all thankful,” said Judd.
Greene had 10 prior felony charges dating back to 2013, including fleeing to evade law enforcement, shooting a law enforcement officer, possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, Judd said. He had an outstanding warrant for burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
During a search of the vehicle Greene was driving when he initially fled from officers, investigators found 28 grams of cocaine, marijuana, a Glock .357 handgun and $2,813 in cash, according to a press release sent out Tuesday. Greene was carrying an additional $5,833 in cash.
An investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the region’s Deadly Incident Task Force.
Two people were seriously injured in the January 30 shooting, while the wounds of the other eight victims were not considered life-threatening. The victims are men between the ages of 20 and 35, police said.
A vehicle drove through the neighborhood that afternoon and suspects opened fire from all four car windows, police said. Officials have not provided details about other suspects in the shooting.
Officials said they believe the shooting was a “targeted attack”.