SEBRING, Fla. — Deputies are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after a shooting at a hospital in Sebring Thursday morning.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to AdventHealth Sebring after reports of an active shooter around 11:26 a.m.
Deputies said 66-year-old Joe Landon brought his "special needs" adult son to the hospital, where he was having difficulties with him because he was being "somewhat combative."
According to Sheriff Paul Blackman, Landon was seeking treatment for his son, who was placed in a mental health room in the emergency room.
“As the hospital was working through that, for whatever reason, the father in this situation thought there were no answers available to him," Blackman said.
According to deputies, the father pulled out a gun and fired shots into a wall to attempt to get medical personnel out of the room.
Deputies said he then shot his son, who was lying on a bed, before shooting himself. Both died at the scene.
When Ben Tucciarone heard the news, he knew that his friend — Landon — and his friend’s son were the two people involved.
“I knew immediately," Tucciarone said. “Very tragic. Very tragic.”
Tucciarone thinks his friend had been pushed to the edge in recent weeks and had been struggling to care for his son while tending to his own medical ailments.
“In recent weeks, he’s been struggling with his son — taking care of him — frustrated he wasn’t getting no help from outside sources," he said. “I think that was the only solution he had in his own mind.”
However, both he and the sheriff say violence is never the answer, and there is help out there.
“You can always call 988 and get some help on the line, or you can call the sheriff’s office, and we’ll be more than happy to send someone there to try to work with you through that problem," Sheriff Blackman said.
Tucciarone knows that personally. He’s also a dad to an adult son with a disability.
“Reach out to the state and get some help," he said. Don’t ever hurt your child.”
No one else was injured during the incident. HCSO said the hospital was placed on lockdown and temporarily diverted EMS traffic to a nearby facility.
AdventHealth Sebring released a statement regarding the incident Thursday afternoon.
Following the incident that occurred in the Emergency Room at AdventHealth Sebring late Thursday morning, we want to reassure everyone that no team members were harmed. We continue to offer confidential mental health resources and our chaplains are currently on site to support our AdventHealth Sebring family.
Team members from nearby AdventHealth facilities have also been brought in to allow those employees who were working at the time of the incident to return home.
AdventHealth Sebring will continue to support the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office as they investigate. The Emergency Room at AdventHealth Sebring has resumed normal operations.
You can reach the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day by dialing 988.
Additionally, if you're the parent of a child with disabilities, you can reach out to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities at this link.
The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities is also a great resource.
