Mother, her infant among 4 killed by gunman in Florida

Four people, including a mother and her infant, were killed by a gunman wearing full body armour in Florida on early Sunday morning (according to US time zone).

Notably, this is the second mass shooting incident that has taken place in Florida in the last four months.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the suspect, who is yet to be identified, was dressed in full body armour, including a bulletproof vest, when he was found outside a Lakeland home that had been “booby-trapped."

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While trying to nab the gunman, two rounds of gunfire with police, where dozens “if not hundreds of rounds” were exchanged, Judd said.

The suspect escaped from the house at some point, then retreated back to surrender.

Inside the home, authorities found an 11-year-old girl who had been shot multiple times.

She told the cops that there were three dead people inside, Judd said during a news conference Sunday

The officers then searched the home to check for explosives and other traps. When it was clear, they found a mother with an infant in her arms, and another unidentified victim all dead from gunshot wounds.

They also found another woman fatally shot in a neighbouring home.

Although the authorities haven’t been able to find out the motive for the killing, the sheriff said the attacker confronted a witness roughly nine hours before the shooting and told her, “God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters.”

The police said they are finding the relationship between the shooter and the victims.

The shooter also told authorities that he was on methamphetamines—a powerful, highly addictive recreational drug.

The attacker vehicle had also been stocked with supplies for a gunfight, authorities said, including bleeding control kits.

“He was a coward...It’s easy to shoot innocent children and babies and people in the middle of the night when you've got the gun and they don’t,” the sheriff said.

The shooter has been hospitalized and is expected to recover.

There has been a surge in mass shootings across the United States, with President Joe Biden terming it an “epidemic.”

The first shooting took place on June 11, where two people, including a child, were shot dead in a grocery store in Florida. The gunman later killed himself.

(With inputs from agencies)