Two Law Enforcement Officers Shot in Bartow, Assailant Dead

Two police officers were shot and their attacker killed in a shooting that occurred Friday at the Lowes store in Bartow.

Courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office

A Sheriff's Office Patrol car was left with multiple bullet holes in the body and windshield after a violent gunfight that left a shooter dead near Lowes in Bartow on Friday. A Sheriff's Deputy and a Bartow patrol officer were left with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds in the incident.

The violence erupted after 34-year-old Wayne Volz of Fort Meade entered the store seeking his father, who was employed there, with the stated intention of shooting him. Unable to locate his intended victim, who had already notified police, Volz walked from the scene before being challenged by police. He then began shooting at them.

Bartow police officer Mark Sills and Polk County Sheriff's Deputy Edwin "Ed" Alexander were both wounded in the exchange of gunfire that followed. Both officers are expected to recover from their wounds. A second Bartow officer, Vincent Agostino, escaped injury during the gunfire, which left Alexander's police car riddled with bullet holes.

Volz was shot multiple times by the officers. He was transported to an area hospital where he died.

Volz had reportedly been using drugs and was known to area law enforcement. He had turned to violence earlier that morning when he reportedly "pistol-whipped" his mother and threatened to shoot his father in the forehead, holding both hostage in the home they shared in Fort Meade.

Courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office

Wayne Volz, 34, of Fort Meade was killed by police after he bagan shooting at them during a drug-induced rampage that began Friday afternoon in Bartow. Two officers were wounded in the shootout.

Volz eventually relented and took him to work at Lowes, telling his father that he needed to go there anyway so he could "kill a lot of people," according to a statement issued by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

Volz had a criminal history that includes previous arrests for battery domestic violence, larceny, burglary, violation of probation, and failure to appear, according to the Polk County Sheriff's office.

The statement issued by the Sheriff's officer states that there are four investigations currently underway, including an independent investigation by the 10th Judicial Circuit's Officer Involved Deadly Incident (OIDI) Task Force and an internal investigation by the PCSO Administrative Investigations Unit.

The Polk County Medical Examiner will conduct also conduct an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death. The collective investigative findings will then be sent to the 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office for a final investigation and review.