The discovery of four bodies inside a Florida apartment on Tuesday sparked a manhunt that ended early Wednesday when the suspect was killed in an officer-involved shooting, according to Lake Wales police. "It's absolutely a tragedy," Police Chief Chris Velasquez tells WFTS. Officers were called to an apartment building in the city around 8:50pm Tuesday by family members who'd found the bodies of a 40-year-old woman and her three children: a 21-year-old son and two daughters, ages 17 and 11, per WTVT. Police determined they'd been shot dead around 5am Tuesday and named the suspect as Al Joseph Stenson, 38. WFTS reports he lived with the victims. Neighbors said he was father to the three younger victims, per WTVT.
Stenson was located at a motel in Sanford early Wednesday morning. "We know exactly where he's at right now, and we're working to take him into custody in as safe a way as we can," Velasquez said at a press conference, per WKMG. In a statement, police said Stenson made statements that "he would kill himself or force law enforcement to kill him," per WFTS. An hours-long standoff ultimately ended in an officer-involved shooting, with Stenson pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The motive for the mass shooting is unknown at this time. "It makes absolutely no sense," Velasquez says, per WFTS. "Our hearts are broken to see four deceased individuals for absolutely no reason," he adds, per WTVT. (More Florida stories.)
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