POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County deputies have identified three people they say were killed in a violent attack Saturday morning by a coworker wielding a bat and a knife.
Deputies say 39-year-old Shaun Runyon of Pennsylvania had an on-the-job argument Friday with his supervisor, 41-year-old Kevin Lanusse, also from Pennsylvania.
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According to the sheriff’s office, the argument ended with Runyon punching Lanusse and leaving the job site where they’d been contracted by Publix to do electrical work.
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— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 (@PolkCoSheriff) October 4, 2021
Investigators say Runyon’s co-workers assumed he was returning to Pennsylvania.
Instead, deputies say just before 10 a.m. Saturday, Runyon returned to the home in Davenport that he shared with Lanusse and three other co-workers then beat Lanusse and 46-year-old Dewlon Donell to death with a baseball bat as they slept.
Deputies say the third victim, 44-year-old Gregory Dolezal, woke up before he was attacked and tried to escape, but was fatally stabbed by Runyon.
As Runyon tried to escape the home, deputies say he attacked another co-worker with the bat. The fourth victim, who was in the home with his wife and daughter, was able to escape with them without further injury.
Deputies say Runyon fled to Lake Wales in a car he’d rented the previous day from Tampa International Airport, and was taken into custody without incident.
Runyon is being held without bond in the Polk County Jail on three counts of first-degree murder and battery with a deadly weapon.
When interviewed by detectives, Runyon said he’d initially planned to use a crossbow for the killings but decided to use the bat instead, which Runyon said he also purchased in Tampa.
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According to the sheriff’s office, at the time of the murders, Runyon was out on bond for a case out of Pennsylvania in which he faced a list of charges including strangulation, endangering the welfare of a child, and assault. He was released on May 28 and was due back in court for a hearing less than two weeks after the murders.
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