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Man kills 3 co-workers in Polk County with baseball bat, knife, sheriff says.

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — An electrical contractor who stormed away from a job in Lakeland on Friday murdered three co-workers the next morning, attacking them in their shared living space with a baseball bat and a knife, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

“He has confessed to our detectives, the investigation’s underway, he knew all of these victims,” Judd said.

Sheriff Judd said that the suspect, 39-year-old Shaun Runyon, was in Florida doing work for Publix Corp. on behalf of a Pennsylvania electric company.

According to deputies, Runyon left his work site on Friday after having a physical altercation with his supervisor, punching them.

Runyon and at least seven others were staying in a residence in unincorporated Davenport, where the rest of the incident took place on Saturday, according to Sheriff Judd.

“Shaun returned to the neighborhood, went into the house with a baseball bat and a knife, and he stabbed and beat people inside the residence,” Judd said.

Sheriff Judd says that one victim “was beaten to death in his bed while he slept,” and another victim was found dead on the front porch.

A third victim, who died in the hospital, was not initially expected to survive their injuries from the “horrific act,” Judd said.

After chasing a fourth victim from the residence and striking them in the shoulder with the baseball bat, Sheriff Judd said that Runyon ran from the area.

“We had a manhunt, an intensive manhunt, with dozens and dozens of deputies, our K9, our aviation, our drone teams, because we saw where he fled from the area through a blood trail,” Judd said.

“Our big concern immediately was that we had this murderer, who was on a rampage, at large,” Judd said.

At least an hour later, Sheriff Judd said that Runyon arrived “with blood on himself” at a house in Lake Wales, telling the occupants that he had been raped.

After leaving his bloodied clothes at the residence and going to Lake Wales Hospital at the homeowner’s request, Runyon was arrested there by deputies, Judd said.

“We have no idea what outraged him so bad that more than 24-hours later that he would come back and make an attempt to kill every one of them,” Judd said.

In a press conference following the arrest, at which time only two of Runyon’s alleged victims had passed away, Sheriff Judd said he was presenting this information to calm down the neighborhood.

“The murderer, the horrible murderer, is in custody, and the community is safe,” Judd said.

Mobile users, see video here.

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