Florida deputy shot and killed wife before turning the gun on himself, reports say
Authorities are investigating a murder-suicide after reports say a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed his wife, then himself.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office responded to the shooting late Sunday. Spectrum Bay News 9 reported the home was in the 17000 block of Terrazzo Way.
Sheriff Chris Nocco said his deputies were called to the home around midnight, after a teenager ran from the home and called 911 after hearing an argument and a shot fired inside.
Deputies went inside and found a woman dead on the couch and a man, who Nocco said was a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputy, dead upstairs from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Multiple local news outlets report the woman was the deputy’s wife, 33-year-old Samantha Keithley.
Spectrum Bay News 9 reported 39-year-old deputy Kirk Keithley was the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputy found dead in the home. Keithley had been with the department for more than nine years, and worked with the St. Petersburg Police Department before working at the sheriff’s office,. according to WFLA News Channel 8.
Three other children, all under age 14, were found safe in the home but were there at the time of the shooting, Nocco said.
“As people wake up, I just ask you to pray for those kids,” Nocco said. “It’s devastating what happened out here this morning.”
According to Nocco, there were no previous calls for service from the home.
Nocco said it did not appear he used his sheriff’s office-issued weapon in the incident.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister issued a statement Monday saying he was “disheartened.”
“Domestic violence has no place in our society,” Chronister said. “I ask that everyone join me and the rest of our office and pray for those innocent children who are left behind and have to pick up the pieces. Please keep them in your hearts as we all try to make our way through this tragedy.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 9:57 AM.