Golf-course worker had murder in mind when he got on a tractor, cops in Key West say
Two more counts of attempted murder top the additional charges filed against a golf-course greenskeeper who attacked a college dorm and several cars, including a police cruiser, with a tractor Saturday.
Ethan Layne, 22, now faces charges of aggravated assault, burglary, grand theft of a vehicle, criminal mischief, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two more counts of attempted murder. Layne is being held in the Monroe County Detention Center without bond.
Key West police spokesperson Alyson Crean said in an email that the investigation says “Layne went to the college with the specific intent of killing two individuals.”
Around 6 p.m. Saturday, Layne drove a tractor one mile from Key West Golf Club to the Lagoon Landings dorm at The College of the Florida Keys.
As shown in a Facebook post by the Keys Weekly Newspapers, Crean noted Layne “drove the tractor through the lobby of the Lagoon Landings dormitory, then used the bucket attachment of the tractor to destroy the overhead plumbing under the building.”
Also seen in the Facebook post was the truck that Layne used the tractor to flip over in the parking lot. Police say he smashed the front of the tractor on a car with a 4-year-old girl and her father inside.
He did the same to a police cruiser, Crean added. The officer behind the wheel fired at Layne, who evaded being hit but didn’t escape custody.