PALM BAY, Fla. – The Palm Bay Police Department identified the three people shot and killed and the two officers injured in a shootout over the weekend.
Brandon Kapas, 24, shot and killed a priest and the priest’s sister before going to his own grandfather’s house and killing him, police said.
The department identified the victims as Robert John Hoeffner, 76, Sally Joan Hoeffner, 69, and William Michael Kapas, 78.
Officers responded to a residence on Forgal Avenue NE around 2:20 p.m. and found Kapas, who did not comply with officers’ commands and was Tased. Police said Kapas then shot at officers Stephen Ball and Nicholas Franze before shooting and killing his grandfather.
Kapas was then shot and killed by officers.
Police said Robert Hoeffner and Sally Hoeffner were found dead inside a home on Kamloops Street NW hours after the shootout, when the car Kapas was driving was discovered to not be registered to him.
Inside the vehicle, law enforcement found an “arsenal of weapons and ammunition.”
Palm Bay police Chief Mariano Augello said during a news conference Monday that there is no known motive for the shootings.
“Our officers’ actions yesterday prevented something even more tragic and devastating from happening and potentially what could have been potentially an active shooter-type incident,” Angello said.
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