Electrician kills three colleagues with knife and bat in “horrific” outburst: police

A 39-year-old electrician allegedly beat and stabbed three of his colleagues in a violent rampage in Davenport, Fla. On Saturday, police said.

Shaun Runyon and his supervisor got into a fight on Friday morning while at work, which reportedly ended with Runyon punching and then fleeing the scene, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. during a press conference Saturday. Runyon was not seen for the remainder of the day.

Runyon, his co-workers and their families lived in a Davenport, Florida house rented by their employer, J & B Electric Inc., while working in Florida with the Publix supermarket chain, Judd said. A total of seven people lived in the residence.

On Saturday morning, he reportedly returned home with a knife and a baseball bat, attacking his colleagues.

“He stabbed and beat people inside the residence,” Judd said.

Runyon allegedly beat one of his colleagues to death while the victim slept in his bed and killed another. The second victim was found on the front porch of the house, Judd said.

A third victim was also “significantly beaten” and died on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

He allegedly chased the fourth victim down the street and hit him with the baseball bat, but the victim “is fine,” Judd said. Another man, his wife and his 7-year-old daughter were able to escape the house without danger.

Runyon then allegedly fled the scene and police spent about two hours looking for him, according to Judd. He was found two hours later after showing up at a Lake Wells home, wearing bloody clothes and claiming to have been raped.

The couple he appeared at home urged him to go to hospital, where law enforcement took him into custody. Judd said Runyon confessed to investigators, but it’s still unclear what prompted him to engage in the alleged rampage.

“We have no idea what made him so outraged that over 24 hours later he would come back and attempt to kill them all,” Judd said, calling the crime scene “horrific.”

“The horrific murderer is in custody,” he said.

Court records indicate that Runyon is from the Nazareth area in Northampton County, Pa., WFMZ-TV, a Pennsylvania television station reported.

He was charged with three counts of first degree murder and one count of aggravated assault and battery. The police did not disclose the identity of the victims. The attack is still under investigation, Judd said.

Davenport is a town of about 7,300 people located southwest of Orlando.