Man guns down 4, including mother holding her baby

Four people died including a mother who was cradling her now deceased baby in what Florida sheriff’s deputies are calling a massive gunfight early on Sunday with a suspect they said was “ready for battle”.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the unidentified suspect was dressed in full body armour - including a bulletproof vest - when he was found outside a Lakeland home that had been “booby-trapped”.

After two rounds of gunfire with police and deputies - where dozens “if not hundreds of rounds” were exchanged, Judd

LAKELAND, US:

said. The suspect exited the house at some point, then retreated back in, only to finally surrender.

The suspect was shot once and then left the home to surrender. Inside the home, authorities found an 11-year-old girl who had been shot multiple times. She told deputies there were three dead people inside, Judd said during a news conference on Sunday. He did not release any of the victims’ identities, including that of the gunman.

Deputies sent robots into the home to check for explosives and other traps. They found a mother with an infant in her arms, and another unidentified victim, all dead from gunshot wounds. They also found another woman fatally shot in a neighbouring home.

Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting, but the sheriff said the suspect encountered a witness nine hours before the shooting and told her, “God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters.” No other details about the relationship between the shooter and victims were released.

The shooter also told authorities that he was on methamphetamines. The suspect’s vehicle had also been stocked with supplies for a gunfight, authorities later said, including bleeding control kits.