A 23-year-old man drove 15 hours to Florida to allegedly get revenge on his ex-girlfriend's stepmother by shooting the family on Christmas, USA Today reported.
Preston Pollard shot and killed the ex-girlfriend's father, Richard Hutson, 36, and himself early on Christmas morning. Mary Lou Hutson, 55, was in critical condition and taken to a hospital after being shot.
Pollard drove away after shooting the family, and killed himself about 350 miles later as officers caught up to him on Interstate 10 in Okaloosa County, Fla.
But Pollard's family has trouble believing he committed the heinous crimes.
"I know my son. That's not him," said Stephen Pollard, Preston Pollard's father. "He was not a mean person."
Pollard had recently graduated from basic training in the Air Force, and his father had bought a plane ticket for the 18-year-old girl Pollard said was still his girlfriend. She was going to travel to Texas for the holidays to be with him. Pollard had lived with the girlfriend's family for a while in Florida.
The younger Pollard later found out that his girlfriend would not be coming, and that's when his father thinks his son went and got his girlfriend himself.
"The shooter went up to the house, said Lauren Lettelier, Marion County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. "They opened the door and he started shooting."
The alleged girlfriend had three children at the home with her at the time of the shooting, but they were unharmed, according to the News Herald. She locked them in a bathroom and was able to escape to a neighbor's home for help.
As authorities chased him, Pollard shot himself in the head while driving a Honda Civic at 70 mph, causing the car to spin in a 90 degree turn before landing in a wooded area along the highway.
