Armed man shoots 3 people in home, then someone starts firing back, FL cops say

One person was killed and two others were wounded when an armed man entered a home full of people and started shooting, according to investigators in north Florida.

It happened around 6:20 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15, at a home in Middleburg, and the shooting stopped only after someone in the home grabbed a gun and started firing back at Mauricio Vasco Lopez, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference.

Lopez, 45, was hit and died after being taken to a hospital, officials said.

Details of a motive have not been released. Lopez lived in Jacksonville, about a 30-mile drive northeast of the home where the shootings occurred, officials said.

“Deputies arrived to find four people shot (including the suspect). One was deceased at the scene. Three were transported to local hospitals,” Clay County Undersheriff Ron Lendvay said at the news conference.

“Preliminary investigative findings revealed (Lopez) ... arrived at the home armed with a handgun. He shot three people before a resident at the home shot him. ... It certainly could have been much more tragic. Somebody in there (the home) helped save some folks and think we all owe that person a debt of gratitude.”

The resident of the home who died at the scene has been identified as Samantha Cicone, 39, officials said. The other victim was a 21-year-old woman who remains in critical condition. “Deputies also found two uninjured juveniles (16-year-old male and 11-year-old female) inside the residence,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published September 15, 2025 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Armed man shoots 3 people in home, then someone starts firing back, FL cops say."