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Shaun Runyon: Electrician kills 3 coworkers with baseball bat after argument with boss

Shaun Runyon beat one of the men to death while he was asleep, while a second man was found dead on the front porch

DAVENPORT, IOWA: An electrician in Florida attacked his colleagues at the home they shared on a temporary work project, killing three of them. The incident took place after electrician Shaun Runyon got in an angry dispute with a supervisor. Runyon and his co-workers were living in Davenport, working temporarily at a supermarket for a Pennsylvania electric company. Davenport is a community located 55 km southwest of Orlando in central Florida.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference that an argument ensued between the 39-year-old man and his supervisor on Friday, September 1, when he punched the supervisor and fled. He then returned to the home he shared with his coworkers and started attacking them with a baseball bat and a knife. He beat one of the men to death while he was asleep, while a second man was found dead on the front porch. The third victim had to be rushed to the hospital and was “not expected to survive,” the sheriff said.

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"Sheriff Judd briefed the media today, Saturday, October 2nd, about a triple homicide that occurred in unincorporated Davenport. After a two-hour manhunt, the suspect, 39-year-old Shaun Runyon who worked for J&B Electric, Inc. has been captured," Polk County Sheriff's Twitter account posted. "In response to inquiries, this is Shaun Runyon (DOB 3-21-1982), the triple homicide suspect. He is in custody at this time," another tweet read.

Runyon chased the fourth victim into the street, hitting him with the bat, while another man managed to escape unharmed with his wife and daughter, 7. Runyon later escaped and a massive manhunt was launched to nab him, with dozens of deputies, K-9 units, drones and a helicopter. Hours later, he turned up at the home of a Lake Wales couple, draped in bloody clothes, and told them he had been raped. The man discarded his bloody clothes at their home, and the couple asked him to go to the hospital. Runyon was eventually nabbed.

The sheriff confirmed that charges against Runyon, who was not injured, will be forthcoming. The victims' identities were not released immediately. The sheriff said Runyon also has a violent criminal history. He had been arrested previously in connection with a strangulation case in Pennsylvania. “He knew all of these victims. We have no idea what outraged him so bad that more than 24 hours later he would come back and make an attempt to kill every one of them,” Judd said.