OCALA — A Marion County man is dead and his wife seriously injured following an early Christmas morning shooting. The man believed to have shot the couple is also dead after shooting himself in Okaloosa County as he fled from law enforcement after the shooting.
Preston Daniel Pollard, 23, of Venus, Texas, drove from Texas to the Florida home of Richard and Mary Lou Hutson of Marion Oaks, authorities said.
He arrived at 12:17 a.m. Christmas morning, after a nearly 16-hour drive.
“The shooter went up to the house, said Lauren Lettelier, Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. “They opened the door and he started shooting.”
Richard Hutson, 36, died at the scene. His wife, Mary Lou Hutson, 55, was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center and remains in critical condition. There were also three children in the home and an 18-year-old woman, but they were not harmed.
Marion County sheriff’s detectives identified Pollard after interviewing witnesses, including the 18-year-old. Pollard might have been an ex-boyfriend of the 18-year-old woman, Lettelier said.
The 18-year-old woman also lived in the home and during, or soon after the shooting, locked the three children into a home bathroom for their safety, and ran away to a neighbor’s home for help. The neighbor was also a Ocala Police Department officer.
“He came to Marion County for the sole purpose to shoot these two individuals,” Lettelier said.
After the shooting, Pollard got back into his 2002 blue, two-door Honda Civic and apparently headed back toward Texas — a nearly 1,100-mile drive.
Marion County sheriff’s detectives put a BOLO out on his car.
About 5:30 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol and Walton County sheriff’s deputies spotted Pollard driving west on Interstate 10 and tried to stop him.
Pollard was driving about 70 mph when he shot himself in the head, authorities said, causing the car to spin into a 90 degree turn and crash into a wooded area along the highway.
The crash site was between mile marker 66 and 67, just inside Okaloosa County.
Marion County investigators believe the firearm Pollard used in the shooting and the clothes he was wearing are in the Honda Civic, Lettelier said. They will confirm that when Marion County detectives examine the car and its contents, she said.
“We are confident that Pollard is, indeed, our homicide suspect and residents can rest easy this Christmas night that he has been identified and brought into custody,” Lettelier said on behalf of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. “Our thoughts are with the family of the victims at this time as they grieve for their loss and as they support Mrs. Hutson, who is still being treated for her injuries.”