POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The suspect who was involved in a shooting investigation that left a woman and her three children dead has died after a standoff with police, officials with the Lake Wales Police Department said Wednesday.
Detectives worked with the Sanford Police Department and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office as the suspect, Al Joseph Stenson, 38, fled to Slumberland Motel in Sanford, according to police. Police said his brother was also at that motel. Authorities said that Stenson made statements that he would kill himself or force law enforcement to kill him.
An hours long standoff involving crisis negotiation and SWAT ended in an officer-involved shooting, authorities said. Stenson was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Essentially we had many of them stay in place, shelter in place,” said Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith. “There were a couple people who we moved out of the hotel when we felt that it was safe enough to do that.”
According to Lake Wales police, the 40-year-old woman and her three children, ages 21, 17 and 11, were shot and killed early Tuesday morning, at the Sunrise Apartments on Dawnlight Drive.
The bodies were discovered Tuesday night. Their names haven't been released because of Marsy's law.
"Completely senseless," Chief Chris Velasquez said of the killings, adding that there is no threat to the public and that officials expected to take Stenson into custody soon.
It is unclear what witnesses reported to police, and right now police aren’t saying what happened that may have led to the shooting.
Spectrum News did a criminal background check on Stenson and found an arrest in Hillsborough County on a misdemeanor and a domestic violence charge, but both happened more than 12 years ago.