Florida police have charged a Key West man with three counts of attempted murder after he stole a tractor from the golf course where he worked and drove it to the campus of the College of the Florida Keys “with the specific intent of killing two people.”
Ethan Robert Layne, 22, also faces four other felony charges related to his rampage on the campus, and eight more felony counts are pending, the Key West Police Department said.
Police said Layne stole the tractor from Key West Golf Club, where he was the groundskeeper, at about 6 p.m. on Saturday and drove it to the college campus, both on Stock Island just east of Key West proper. He first drove the tractor through the lobby of the Lagoon Landings dormitory, using the bucket attachment to destroy the overhead plumbing in the building.
Outside the dorm in the parking lot, he rammed a truck, overturning it, and then turned toward another vehicle, occupied by a man with his 4-year-old daughter. Layne drove toward the vehicle, raised the bucket, and smashed it onto the car, then backed away momentarily. The man escaped the car with his daughter at that point.
Next. Layne aimed at another vehicle, but the driver evaded him. By that time, police were responding to numerous 911 calls, as Layne drove off the campus and onto College Road, taking aim at a police car and ramming it. He again used the bucket to slam the patrol car’s windshield several times.
The officer fired at Layne but missed. The suspect was taken into custody shortly afterward. There were no injuries.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the officer’s discharge of his weapon. Police said preliminary estimates of damage are in the hundres of thousands of dollars.
Police did not say if Layne intended to kill two specific people or two random people. They also did not disclose a motive for the rampage.
In addition to three attempted murder charges, Layne has been charged with aggravated assault, grand theft of a vehicle, burglary, and criminal mischief.
Layne is being held without bond at the Monroe County Detention Center.
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[Featured image: Key West Police Department. Inset: Ethan Robert Layne]
