TAMPA, FL – A 19-year-old Florida man died in a shooting on Saturday night after fatally shooting his parents and injuring a local deputy, according to information provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies received reports of a shooting at a home in Tampa shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday. When they arrived at the scene, they found the caller, identified as Rebecca Ann Themelis, 48, claiming that her husband, Christos Byron Themelis, 51, had been shot. In the course of the call, more shots were fired.
On the deputies’ arrival at the scene, they encountered the suspect, Christos Alexander Themelis Jr., 19, and his mother outside the home. The teen proceeded to shoot his mother in the back of her head before opening fire on the law enforcement officers, hitting one deputy in the leg.
Though the teen retreated into the house and later suffered fatal injuries. Sheriff Chad Chronister stated that the injured deputy’s condition was stable. Calls to the home made by law enforcement prior to the incident had been due to the teenager’s mental health issues and aggression toward his parents. Moreover, there had also been an active risk protection order against the teen, which led to the confiscation of his guns.
While investigators are still determining how he obtained the gun used in the fatal shooting, they have deemed him mentally unfit. Investigation into the shooting continues and the circumstances that led to this tragic escalation of violence remain unclear.