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Polk County Sheriff’s Phone# 863-298-6200
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During the early morning hours of Sunday, September 5, 2021, 33-year-old Bryan Riley of Brandon, Florida, went into two different homes on the same property off of North Socrum Loop Road in north Lakeland, and shot and killed a 62-year-old woman, a family dog, a 26-year-old woman, her 3-month-old baby boy whom she was holding at the time, and the woman's 40-year-old boyfriend, Justice Gleason*. Riley also shot an 11-year-old girl multiple times. She was critically injured, but survived.
*Gleason's family gave PCSO permission to use his name; the other victims' family members do not want their names released, per Marsy's Law.
Riley chose the house and the victims at random, though he was in the area the previous day visiting an acquaintance. He also engaged in a gunfight with Polk County Sheriff's deputies and a Lakeland Police Department Officer, then surrendered.
Click here to see a news conference, during which Sheriff Grady Judd gives details of the crimes.
Riley has been charged with:
Four counts of 1st degree murder
One count of attempted 1st degree murder
Seven counts of attempted 1st degree murder of a law enforcement officer
Two counts shooting into an occupied dwelling
Two counts armed burglary with battery
One count kidnapping of a minor
One count arson
One count cruelty to an animal
Bryan Riley was arrested and transported the Polk County Jail, where he is being held on no bond.