LAKE WALES, Fla. — Two people are dead after what officials called a hostage situation in Lake Wales Monday morning.
Lake Wales Police Chief Chris Velasquez said that around 4 a.m., they received a call about a "domestic disturbance" involving children at a house on Lindsay Place. The caller asked police to help remove the children from the home.
Chief Velasquez said that once officers arrived, a child ran out and said the suspect, Antonio Oliver, 40, was inside, and they thought they "heard a gun being cocked."
The officers began using their PA system to establish contact with the suspect. Velasquez said that Oliver was asking officers to shoot him but to not shoot into the house.
Velasquez added that this is because Oliver was using the children, which included the suspect's 19-year-old stepson, a 16-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old girl, as "human shields."
"The suspect said he wanted to just walk outside and have law enforcement shoot him. We said we did not want that. We said just cooperate, don't shoot anybody, nobody has to get hurt," said Chief Chris Velasquez with the Lake Wales Police Department.
Around 7 a.m., a SWAT team made emergency entry after hearing a gunshot and found Oliver dead right behind the front door. While clearing the rest of the house, officers found the suspect's stepson deceased in the back bedroom.
"The only gunshot we heard was when the suspect fired and that was when he took his life. Again, we made immediate entry into the house as soon as we hear gunfire, that's what we do and that's what we're trained to do to go in and stop the threat," said Chief Velasquez.
Chief Velasquez said officers are unsure when Oliver shot and killed his stepson. This remains an active investigation. The Polk County Sheriff's Office was also called to assist.
