The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office identified Joe E. Landon, 67, as the shooter who first shot his son Noah Ryan Presley Landon, 23, then turned the gun on himself inside AdventHealth Sebring.
A Florida man posted a photo of his son just moments before shooting him in a hospital and then turning the gun on himself Thursday, according to reports.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office identified Joe E. Landon, 67, as the shooter who first shot his son, Noah Ryan Presley Landon, 23, before turning the gun on himself inside AdventHealth Sebring.
“There was a confrontation, more between father and son in trying to get him into the facility to receive some sort of help,” Sheriff Paul Blackman said in front of the hospital’s Emergency Room entrance Thursday at a news conference. “The special needs young man was having a rough day, a difficult day, and the staff here was trying to give him the help he needed.”
Police were called twice to the hospital, according to Blackman. At first they were called at 8 a.m. Thursday to help calm the younger Landon as the hospital restrained him and then they were called just before 11:30 a.m. when the shooting occurred.
Hospital workers had to use restraints on Noah to hold him to a bed in a mental health room, but then Joe became distraught, Highlands News Sun reported.
Before Joe shot his son, he apparently used his cell phone to photograph Noah on the hospital bed, Highlands News Sun reported.
The photo shows the son with restraints around his chest, stomach, legs, and wrists. He then posted it to Facebook with the text “At er with Noah Ryan prayers,” followed by a praying hands emoji, two sorrowful face emojis, and a crying face emoji, Highlands News Sun reported.
Soon after posting the photo, the father fired two shots into a wall to clear two people out of the room before he shot his son and himself, Blackman said.
The incident sent the hospital into lockdown and ambulances are being diverted to another hospital, CBS News Miami reported.
“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,” Lauren Rozyla, AdventHealth West Florida media communications manager, said in a statement.
