[PHOTO CREDIT: Joshua Oliver]
[Original Publish Date: 05/28/20]
[05/28/20 6:03 p.m.] FRUITLAND PARK, Florida — LCSO Sgt. Fred Jones has identified the two deceased individuals in today’s incident as Randall Hopkins, of Virginia, and Amanda Hopkins, whom Jones said held a Tennessee driver license. According to Jones, Randall Hopkins was wanted out of Virginia for violation of probation in connection with charges of grand larceny, felony trespassing and felony fraud.
FRUITLAND PARK, Florida — Two people are dead in what law enforcement believes to be a murder-suicide following an attempt to serve an out-of-state warrant Thursday afternoon.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Unit attempted to serve the warrant at a mobile home at 4095 Picciola Road around 12:45 p.m. Thursday. When deputies knocked, they heard what they believed to be gunshots, said LCSO Sgt. Fred Jones. They retreated and called in the SWAT Team and the home was breached shortly after 3 p.m. “We used the robot to go in,” Jones told Lake Legal News.
Upon making entry to the home, deputies found the bodies of a white male and white female, both in their 30s dead from gunshot wounds, Jones told LLN. “All indicators lead us to believe it was a murder-suicide,” Jones said. “We never fired any shots.”
The dead man is the man they were looking for to serve the Virginia warrant on, Jones said. LCSO is not releasing his name or the female’s name, pending notification of next of kin.
LLN spoke to one of the man’s neighbors through Facebook messenger before LCSO breached the home. “I’m not nervous or scared as they [LCSO] seem to have the situation well under control,” Joshua Oliver told LLN, “It’s just intense that this was happening in my own neighborhood.”
_______________________________
Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
