PLANT CITY, Fla. _ A Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy killed his wife, daughter and granddaughter early Wednesday morning, then announced what he'd done over a police radio before killing himself.
Terry L. Strawn, 58, a Sheriff's Office veteran who was once named Officer of the Year, used his service handgun to carry out the slayings at two locations in east Hillsborough County. Three deputies encountered him near Plant City High School and tried reasoning with him before he took his own life.
"He indicated he was losing everything," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. "I'm saddened. But I'm also disheartened that a sheriff's deputy would ever cause harm to another individual."
The victims were identified Wednesday afternoon as Strawn's wife, Theresa, 54; his daughter, Courtney, 32; and Courtney's 6-year-old, Londyn. The girl was a student at Valrico Elementary School, where Strawn worked as a resource deputy.
Sheriff's officials learned of the carnage at 6:42 a.m. when Strawn began speaking over a sheriff's radio frequency. He announced he had "emergency traffic," then said he had killed three of his family members and gave directions to two locations where deputies would find them, the sheriff said. The deputy said he planned to kill himself at Plant City High, which is near one of the murder scenes.
A communications supervisor tried to talk him out of it. A short time later, deputies found Strawn just east of the school. They pleaded with him not to hurt himself.
"At one point he said he had to go, he wanted to be with his family," Chronister said.
No students or school staff were in the area, officials said.
Detectives and forensic technicians were combing three crime scenes Wednesday afternoon _ an area just outside the Plant City High campus, his daughter's duplex near the school, and Strawn's home in a gated community at 1512 Emerald Hill Way in Valrico.
"During his radio transmission, he talked about how much he loved the Sheriff's Office," Chronister said.
Strawn also spoke of coping with financial and health problems, the sheriff said, but no financial concerns surfaced during his recent pre-employment background check.
Court records show Strawn and his wife qualified for a mortgage and bought a house earlier this year.
In 2011, the couple filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court. In a petition, they estimated their assets at less than $50,000 with liabilities greater than that. Among the assets, they listed a Jeep, two trucks, a boat, and a 9 mm Smith & Wesson firearm.
Strawn started with the Sheriff's Office in 1991. State law enforcement records indicate he began as a jail deputy before joining the road patrol in 1994.
In 2004, he and another deputy shot and killed a man in the line of duty. The man pointed a metal and plastic tool at the deputies as they tried to arrest him during an domestic violence call. Fearing the object was a gun, the deputies fired their weapons, according to a news account.
He was named Officer of the Year in 2009. Sheriff's officials cited his work in removing dangerous criminals from the streets.
"Deputy Strawn is persistent, leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of the lawbreakers," then-Sheriff David Gee said. "Recently he arrested a fugitive and an armed robbery suspect after a traffic stop. His high rate of success in the location and capture of numerous suspects has earned him this year's top honor in east Hillsborough County."
Strawn retired about two years ago, Chronister said. But he was re-hired last summer as part of a sheriff's partnership with the Hillsborough school district to improve security in local elementary schools.
The program comes in response to a legislative mandate following the fatal shootings in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The Sheriff's Office pledged to recruit and train more than 100 officers for elementary schools, providing 132 hours of comprehensive firearms safety and proficiency training and 12 hours of diversity training.
Things were going so well in Strawn's new assignment that the department decided recently to hire him back permanently, Chronister said.
As they lined up Wednesday afternoon to take their children home, parents at Valrico Elementary _ where Strawn worked and his granddaughter attended school _ had begun to hear about trouble in their community. As she sat in her car waiting for her son, Ingrid Martinez said she'd heard only about "a tragedy" but no details.
Shown a photo of Strawn, Martinez said her son, a second-grader, had previously pointed out the same man as "the nice policeman."
"He would sit down with them sometimes at lunch," Martinez said. "My son would always say, 'He's a very nice guy, Mommy.'"
In a statement, the Hillsborough school district said crisis team members would be available to students and staff at Valrico Elementary.
"Londyn was a first grade student at the school. She loved to learn and was excited about reading and math. She had a kind spirit and always helped classmates," district spokeswoman Tanya Arja said in the statement.
Chronister said Strawn underwent "extensive" background and psychological testing before he was re-hired.
"He had a phenomenal reputation throughout the Sheriff's Office," he said. "No indication whatsoever ... that this deputy would conduct himself in the manner he did."
The slayings mark the second time this year that a Hillsborough sheriff's deputy has been involved in a murder-suicide.
In September, Kirk Keithley shot his wife, Samantha, in their Land O' Lakes home, then turned the gun on himself.
"We've been concerned," Chronister said. "Because we've seen suicide rates have risen. Why is this occurring? I wish I knew."
