A ‘monster’ teenager shot down his father after which executed his mom at point-blank vary in entrance of cops earlier than dying in a police shootout.
Police say they acquired a name simply after 11pm on Saturday from a lady – later recognized as Rebecca Ann Themelis, 48 – informing them that her husband, Christos Byron Themelis, 51, had been shot.
Extra gunshots might be heard whereas she was on the cellphone with the dispatch middle, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Workplace reviews.
By the point deputies arrived on the house on Cactus Wren Place in Tampa, Florida, they discovered the suspect – Christos Alexander Themelis, 19 – and his mom, Rebecca, exterior.
As deputies watched in horror, the suspect shot his mom behind the pinnacle and commenced capturing on the officers, injuring one deputy, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
Police responded to a Tampa house simply after 11pm on Saturday when a lady reported her husband was shot
Dramatic physique digital camera footage caught the stand-off between Christos Alexander and the deputies, starting once they arrived on the scene and located him exterior along with his mom.
‘Present me your fingers, present me your f****** fingers,’ Deputy Shane McGough, 26, might be heard yelling.
He then pleaded with Rebecca to ‘get out of the home now’ and stroll in the direction of him, holding his gun drawn earlier than radioing in, ‘he is obtained her at gunpoint.’
‘Hear, we do not need to harm you, simply let your mother stroll to us, let her stroll to us OK?’ McGough tells the suspect, repeating his directions to ‘preserve your fingers up’ and ‘don’t attain behind your again.’
Because the son apparently retreats to go and seize his gun, McGough as soon as once more pleads with the mom to ‘stroll to me, stroll into my flashlight.’
Then when Christos Alexander comes again out with the gun, he pleads, ‘Ma’am get away from him now and are available right here.’
He additionally begs the suspect to ‘cease reaching into your waistband’ earlier than reporting that he obtained hit and asking others for a tourniquet.
Dramatic police physique digital camera footage reveals deputies confronting the shooter
5 deputies returned then fireplace, inflicting the suspect to retreat into his house, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned in a press launch.
At that time, authorities deployed a SWAT staff, and deputies used a robotic to enter the house via the entrance door.
‘Sadly the primary particular person we encounter on the bottom is the daddy,’ Sheriff Chad Chronister mentioned at a information convention.
‘The daddy had succumbed to his accidents.’
Police then discovered the suspect useless from accidents he sustained from the shootout in one other room of the home.
Sheriff Chad Chronister urged the scenario might have turned out worse
However the scenario might have been a lot worse, Chronister urged.
‘The monster we encountered this night is liable for not solely injuring our deputy but additionally killing his personal mom and father,’ he mentioned in an announcement.
‘Our deputies responded to a chaotic scene and instantly put themselves in hurt’s method to shield our neighborhood.
‘With out our deputies’ fast and skillful response, a complete neighborhood would have been in peril.’
Not one of the deputies concerned within the shootout had any prior file of use of power, the sheriff’s workplace added.
Deputy McGough is now in secure situation, and had surgical procedure on Sunday to take away the bullet and insert a rod into his leg to assist regrow the tibia – which was fractured within the shootout.
Deputy Shane McGough, 26, was shot within the leg throughout a standoff with the teenager gunman
However this wasn’t the primary time police have been known as to the Tampa house.
Deputies have responded to incidents on the house 10 instances prior, with the bulk being associated to psychological well being companies and violence in opposition to the suspect’s dad and mom, Chronister mentioned on the information convention.
He famous that there was additionally an energetic threat safety order in opposition to the 19-year-old that led deputies to grab his weapons.
Investigators at the moment are working to find out how Christos Alexander might have obtained the gun if he was deemed ‘mentally unfit.’
‘We do not know precisely and we might not ever know why he grew to become as violent as he did,’ Chronister mentioned.
‘However we do know inflicting harm or hurt on one other human being – it by no means issues what the reason being – it is by no means OK. Interval.’
