A Chili's parking lot in Florida marked the beginning of a tragedy Sunday evening when a local man attacked his wife, then picked up his two young children from the babysitter's and shot them before turning the gun on himself, Seminole County deputies reported.
The sequence of events began when the suspect, 30-year-old Henry Brown, hid in his estranged wife's trunk until she left the restaurant. Records indicate that their marriage had been rocky ever since his wife, 31-year-old Chericia Brown, had an injunction issued in January following a domestic battery report from the month before.
Upon leaving the restaurant around 10 p.m., Chericia was rushed by Henry, who had been lying in wait, and stabbed multiple times. The attack prompted a nurse and paramedic, who were dining at the establishment, to come and help, but that's when Henry returned to the scene in a bid to finish the job by running her over - and hitting the two good Samaritans in the process.
Afterward, Henry drove to Alamonte Springs and changed vehicles to a Ford F250. While there, he also picked up his two children - a 1-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son - from the babysitter.
With the two in tow, he headed to Central Florida Regional Hospital in search of his wife, but security and witnesses recognized him, prompting him to pull out his gun and open fire on law enforcement and security personnel in an attempt to flee. Deputies said they returned fire, but were unable to prevent him from fleeing to Interstate 4.
He drove westbound along the interstate, eventually being discovered by police near the Seminole-Volusia county line just minutes later. Deputies successfully used stop sticks to slow Henry's vehicle down, but upon closing in to arrest him, they found him as well as his two children dead inside.
Investigators said they believe Brown killed his children at some point after picking them up, then committed suicide while police prepared to apprehend him.
As if that wasn't bad enough, at some point during the night, Chericia died at the hospital from her injuries.
I-4 near the St. Johns River Bridge was shut down for hours after the incident, but has since reopened.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting at the hospital.
